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SINGAPORE – A new mobile swab station has been implemented to make it quicker and safer for healthcare workers testing Covid-19 swabs in dormitories of foreign workers.
The mobile swab station (MSS) integrates a cabin system developed by the Singapore General Hospital, called SG Safe, in a field ambulance through the Singapore Armed Forces.
Workers can be cleaned while they are out of the ambulance. The uncontaminated environment in the ambulance means the swab does not need to wear full protective gear, such as a hairnet, gown, and glasses.
To perform the test, the swab places its hands on a pair of gloves attached to a glass panel to take samples from a worker’s nose.
The Singapore Army, Defense Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and ST Engineering joint project will help evaluate the 323,000 foreign workers in the dormitories. So far, more than 32,000 of them, or about 10 percent, have been tested.
The MSS was implemented on Monday (May 11) to carry out cleaning operations in places outside specially designed bedrooms.
More could be deployed, depending on the needs of the interagency workforce that handles the Covid-19 outbreak among foreign workers.
Military expert 7 Low Koon Huat, 53, who co-leads a task force that provides technical support to other task forces, told reporters in a virtual interview on Wednesday (May 13) that previously, the cleaning booths they had to be moved from site to site, and the MSS makes this process more efficient by reducing the logistics involved.
Compared to having to load and unload the SG Safe cab system to set it up on site from a vehicle, which takes about 30 minutes, setting up the MSS takes half that time.
SAF Medical Corps Captain (Dr) Ivan Low said his team feels much safer operating from a clean environment.
“This is made possible by the ventilation filtration system, which essentially transforms the cabin into a giant N95 mask. In addition, the cabin is pressurized to reduce the risk of droplets, aerosols entering the compartment.
“Therefore, the MSS comes with a significant reduction in transmission risks for healthcare workers, giving us the confidence to carry out our professional tasks effectively,” he added.
The fact that the swab remains seated throughout the operation, having to wear only N95 masks and gloves inside the air-conditioned cabin, means that it is a “very comfortable environment to operate for an extended period of time,” Capt said ( Dr) Low, 26.
Each MSS can be configured by three people, namely the transport operator, the swab person and another to collect the swab sample after it has been completed. Other than hyssop, the other two people do not need to be medically trained.
Two other MSS prototypes are expected to be ready by the end of June, including a multi-service vehicle with a swab station and a 20-foot container with three.
Army engineers from the Maintenance and Engineering headquarters have also developed an application that reduces the registration time of workers who are taken, from four minutes to less than one.
Workers do not have to write their data with pen and paper, as the mobile express scanner, which is installed on a smartphone, extracts data from workers’ work passes. This not only reduces the contact time of the swab manager with workers, but also helps ensure precision labeling of swab samples.
Since last Saturday (May 9), 10 sets of these scanners have been used at 38 sites across the island, spanning around 2,000 people.
DSTA’s Mr. Sebastian Lim, who co-leads the team with ME7 Low, said the idea of a filtration system for the MSS came up when they noticed that patients sometimes expel infectious droplets during swab tests.
“So what we did was, in addition to having the shield as a physical barrier, we integrated the ventilation filtration system … to filter these particles before air enters the cabin. So we have an additional layer of protection to the crew operating in the cabin, “said the chief of capacity development for wheeled vehicles, 45.
Compared to a typical modification project that can take more than three months, the MSS was ready for use within three weeks of conceptualization.
Mr. Lim said there were still improvements to be made at the MSS. “For example, after we’ve deployed to the ground, as the military also started rolling out their mobile scanner app … our next step is to bring the registration desk to the cabin as well, so there are fewer people outside. . “
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