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| Sunday, December 27, 2020
JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE
Tiffany Kampstra prepares for COVID tesing at the South Medford drive-thru location.
A TEST OF WILL
Asante lab workers battle the elements, in and out of their protective suits, to screen patients for COVID-19
By Tony Boom
for the Mail Tribune
A
sante lab workers have stood outside in snow, rain and 90-degree heat to collect specimens for COVID-19 testing at the drivethru testing facility set up in March off Center Drive in south Medford. There’s now an RV located at the site where workers can retreat for shelter from the elements. By July 28, 6,054 specimens had been collected at the drive-thru. In all, 14,749 samples had been collected and tested across all Asante
locations, including one located off Black Oak Drive on the Medford campus. Phlebotomist Tiffany Kampstra has spent up to six hours at a time in a PAPR suit that encloses the entire body and features a powered, air-purifying respirator attached to a hood. All drive-thru workers gathering specimens wear the suits. “They are not air conditioned, so it’s blowing in the outside air. It can be up to 115 degrees inside the suit,” said Kampstra. After each patient is seen, the suits are wiped down with bleach before another is served. Beside the suit regimen, Kampstra has put in some longer days. Even
though the facility closes at 4 p.m., anyone in line then will be tested. Phlebotomists are trained to administer the nasopharyngeal test, which is conducted by inserting a cotton swab on a stick into the nose, running it up to the sinuses and rotating to collect samples for analysis to detect the virus. Some find the test irritating, said Sherry Sorenson, manager of Asante Laboratory Outreach Services. Asante had the drive-thru running March 13, just two days after it was proposed. In the early days over 200 patients were there per day. SEE LAB WORKERS, PAGE 24
