Situation
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, few workers are deemed as essential as first responders. Like many others across the country, the first responders at the Sandwich Fire Department, Massachusetts, are consistently in close contact with SARS-CoV-2 patients.
Due to this fact, the Sandwich Fire Department desired monitoring of their facility. Before collaborating with Thermo Fisher Scientific, they were reliant on two risk-mitigation strategies:
- Employees following the CDC recommended safety guidelines (mask-wearing, hand washing, cleaning).
- Rapid testing of individual employees
While safety protocols were followed, there was the lingering concern that these approaches were not effective enough to mitigate an outbreak. In partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific, the Sandwich Fire Department wished to accomplish two goals:
- Monitor the facility's main hallway for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, a space where individual testing was being performed.
- Confirm safety protocol compliance and verify the quality of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Solution
The Thermo Scientific™ AerosolSense™ Sampler is a new pathogen surveillance solution, developed to provide timely and highlyreliable insight into in-air pathogen presence for improving and monitoring facility safety protocols.
This solution was supplied to the Sandwich Fire Department to assist the accomplishment of their goals while helping to protect employees and sustain operational continuity.
Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific – Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments
Samples of air are accumulated in the AerosolSense Sampler via an omnidirectional inlet. The collection substrate is carried by a sample cartridge installed into the sampler. Samples of air are then directed toward the collection substrate via an accelerating slit impactor.
Particles are confined to the collection substrate as the air circulates around the collection area. After completion of the sampling cycle, the sample cartridge is extracted and sent to a testing laboratory. The AerosolSense Sampler was positioned in the main hallway of the Sandwich Fire Department facility.
Over a period of four weeks, air samples were gathered daily, Monday through Friday. After each sample cycle, samples were dispatched overnight to a partner laboratory.
The samples were tested in the laboratory using the Applied Biosystems™ TaqPath™ COVID-19 Combo Kit to detect whether SARS-CoV-2 was present or not. As part of the initiative, 18 samples were tested.
Figure 1. AerosolSense Sampler. Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific – Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments
Results
After the program was completed, 15 of the samples returned negative results, and two samples returned positive results for SARS-CoV-2. See Table 1.
Table 1. AerosolSense sample results and data from Sandwich Fire Department. Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific – Environmental and Process Monitoring Instruments
| Day |
AerosolSense results |
Number of people in facility |
Number of confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases in the facility |
| Day 1 |
Positive |
6 |
1 (rapid test and PCR) |
| Day 2 |
Negative |
5 |
0 |
| Day 3 |
Positive |
6 |
1 (rapid test and PCR) |
| Day 4 |
Negative |
8 |
0 |
| Day 5 |
Inconclusive |
8 |
0 |
| Day 6 |
Negative |
10 |
0 |
| Day 7 |
Negative |
10 |
0 |
| Day 8 |
Negative |
8 |
0 |
| Day 9 |
Negative |
6 |
0 |
| Day 10 |
Negative |
6 |
0 |
| Day 11 |
Negative |
11 |
0 |
| Day 12 |
Negative |
8 |
0 |
| Day 13 |
Negative |
8 |
0 |
| Day 14 |
Negative |
12 |
0 |
| Day 15 |
Negative |
5 |
0 |
| Day 16 |
Negative |
8 |
0 |
| Day 17 |
Negative |
22 |
0 |
| Day 18 |
Negative |
12 |
0 |
All individuals were immediately given a rapid antigen test after receiving the positive sample results from the AerosolSense Sampler, showing that SARS-CoV-2 was present in the hallway.
The results determined that one individual tested positive for COVID-19, demonstrating that AerosolSense Sampler detection is accurate and complements individual testing.
Conclusion
The results determined that in combination with appropriate safety protocols, the AerosolSense Sampler is an effective in-air surveillance solution that can offer enhanced awareness of SARS-CoV-2 presence in the air – this allows facility leadership to prevent a possible outbreak by taking the necessary safety precautions.
For the Sandwich Fire Department, these results also confirmed whether or not individuals were following the safety protocols. They also showed that PPE and other safety protocols were effective when used in the appropriate manner.
This gave the first responders confidence in the fact that the Fire Department was now a safe place to work with a SARS-CoV-2 surveillance system in place.
The solution provided validation that SARS-CoV-2 can be mitigated with mandated mask-wearing and testing. The instrument also acted as a visual deterrent and encouraged employees to wear masks and follow the safety protocols.”
Sandwich Fire Department Chief
The Fire Department has made the decision to continue to deploy the AerosolSense Sampler subsequent to employee vaccination in order to further shield the employees in a semi-vaccinated community, especially one in a facility with many shared spaces and cohabiting quarters.
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