APHL works to forge working relationships between public health laboratories and their partners in sentinel clinical laboratories and the first responder community. Both connections are vital to rapid and accurate detection of health threats. The association collaborates with the:
- College of American Pathologists and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the Laboratory Preparedness Exercise (LPX), a biannual assessment of pathogen detection distributed to approximately 1300 laboratories nationwide
- American Society for Microbiology and the CDC on development of the
Sentinel Level Clinical Microbiology Laboratory Guidelines
- National Institute of Standards and Technology on developing standards and guidance to support biothreat field response mission capability
The resources below are intended to support public health laboratory outreach to sentinel clinical laboratories and first responders.
Resources for Outreach to Sentinel Clinical Laboratories
Sentinel Clinical Laboratory Definition
APHL Sentinel Laboratory Biothreat Bench Cards
Bioterrorism Agents Poster
Guidelines for Safe Work Practices in Human and Animal Medical Diagnostic Laboratories
Resources for Outreach to First Responders
Algorithm and Guidelines for Responding to an Incident Involving a Suspicious Non-Clinical Sample
Partners in Preparedness and Response: Connecting Laboratories and the First Responder Community
The Need for a Quality Assurance Program for Kits and Devices Used in the Field to Screen for Hazardous Biological and Chemical Warfare Agents (Position Statement)
Field Device Use by First Responders: Issues and Solutions
For more information, contact Amy Pullman, MT, specialist, PHPR at
amy.pullman@aphl.org or 240. 485.3822.