TAC Healthcare Group Aims to Help Stop the Spread of COVID-19 With New
12-Minute Test Kits Aberdeen-based TAC Healthcare Group has rolled out the latest in COVID-19 testing technology, from UK-based life sciences company, LumiraDx, in a bid to help stop the spread of the virus.
The innovative new test kits, which are small and highly portable, can detect the COVID-19 antigen protein from a nasal swab, producing results in just 12 minutes. This is a significant improvement on existing devices, which provide results from lab-based tests in up to 12 hours.
Thirty of the new, rapid testing instruments have been delivered to TAC’s dedicated test centre in the North East of Scotland, where they are now fully operational; enabling the company to deliver even faster, accurate results to individuals working in the oil and gas and maritime sectors.
TAC Healthcare is among the first companies worldwide to deploy these innovative, new “lab-in-a-box”- style kits for COVID-19 testing.
From 100 tests a week at the start of the pandemic, TAC is now doing more than 4000 per week, the result of increased offshore manning levels and the commitment of organisations to ensure the wellbeing of their teams and wider communities.
Ken Park, Clinical Director said: “When the pandemic first hit offshore, operators dropped down to minimum safe manning levels, so there were far less people being tested. We are
40
www.sosmagazine.biz October 2020
seeing things starting to get back to normal and have ramped up our testing capability accordingly.
“By offering accurate testing in minutes, we have a greater opportunity to avoid sending potential carriers onto an asset or vessel where, in those types of an enclosed spaces, the virus could easily spread and cause the whole operation to shut down.
“Previously, workers have had to spend two days in a hotel room by themselves. With this new technology, they can come in for a test from 5.45am and be back at the heliport ready to go offshore, armed with their results, that same morning. It’s far more efficient and cost-effective, as well as being less disruptive for the worker going offshore, as we don’t take away any of their time at home.”
To accommodate the increased demand for its COVID-19 testing services,
The innovative new test kits can detect the COVID-19
antigen protein from a nasal swab, producing results in just 12 minutes.
The company’s Clinical Director, Ken Park, says that offering accurate testing in minutes provides a greater opportunity to avoid sending potential carriers onto an asset or vessel, where the virus could easily spread and cause a whole operation to shut down.
TAC has also expanded its footprint, with the purchase of a larger facility in Dyce in July. The building will also become the home of the company’s growing occupational health team and services, which include medical reception cover, biennial medical checks for offshore workers, the provision of offshore medics and topside cover, as well as the delivery of health and wellbeing programmes for office-based staff.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
