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OMRF prepared for unexpected year-round

Mar 10, 2010

by April Wilkerson
The Journal Record

Copyright © 2010 The Journal Record All Rights Reserved


OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahomans may be thinking about springtime disaster preparedness, but for research labs and hospitals, being prepared for the unexpected is a year-round reality.

Advances in technology mean better safeguards for all aspects of health care, from life support backup for laboratory mice to Fort Knox-type protection for patients’ electronic medical records.

At the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), several layers of backup power will keep the facility running if the electricity goes down, said Justin Simmons, safety officer. In addition to backup generators, the OMRF building is plumbed for natural gas and has an underground propane storage tank that can keep everything going at full speed for 72 hours, he said. Engineers are on site around the clock to ensure nothing goes wrong.

“There are over 5,000 alarm points so they know if the temperature drops, the humidity is too high or the freezers are too warm,” Simmons said.

The OMRF also is installing a speaker system in every room so that staff members can be notified in case of a tornado, he said.

Ensuring the safety and hygiene of mice used in research also is crucial because they represent lengthy, expensive and potentially groundbreaking studies of diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s to multiple sclerosis. The OMRF currently has more than 9,000 mice being used in its facility. The majority of the mice are in OMRF’s main barrier facility, where access is restricted and staff who enter must take an “air shower” and wear sterile scrubs and shoe covers.

Each mice cage has its own life-support backup. The rodents’ acidified water also is monitored with ultraviolet sterilization and its pH level checked every day, Simmons said. The OMRF buys sterile bedding for the mice, but it is filtered and sterilized again before being put in cages. Staff members have online access to the conditions of each cage, and if the facility were to be without water, a cache of hydration gel packs are available.

“Safety equates to good science,” Simmons said.

Laboratory personnel take their own precautions when conducting research, Simmons said, but if a tornado were to damage the building and send the research into the atmosphere, the public wouldn’t be at risk, Simmons said. OMRF mostly operates at Biosafety Level 2, one of four levels specified by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health. In Biosafety Level 2, the agents or materials being used can be of moderate risk to humans or the environment, but nothing at OMRF could be transferred to the public at large, Simmons said. Occasionally, OMRF researchers will perform a Biosafety Level 3 study, and the precautions are adjusted accordingly, including increased warning signs and work being done in a protective hood or cabinet. The highest biosafety level is four, which features dangerous agents for which there is no vaccine, but no such work is done at OMRF, he said.

The OMRF also is growing its research space. It recently received a $7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health that will be used to build out lab, clinic and mechanical space for clinical investigators studying autoimmune diseases. It will include a 3,400-square-foot cryostorage facility that can hold samples as low as minus 80 degrees Celsius.

Protecting the confidentiality and access of electronic health records also has been an aim of hospitals. Mercy Health Center in Oklahoma City, which will “go live” with its inpatient electronic medical records in June, has received a new safeguard in the Mercy Data Center, which protects all data in the health system’s 26 hospitals around the nation.

The $60 million facility in Washington, Mo., was built to withstand an F2 tornado, and it can run on backup generator power for up to 72 hours. Its site was chosen based on access to alternate sources of power and water, distance from earthquake fault lines, bedrock and proximity to other Mercy operations.

David Tew, chief operating officer for Mercy Health System of Oklahoma, recently toured the data center. He said its design and capabilities are impressive, and the center is another step in building patient confidence about electronic medical records. Health care records must be available without fail, and they must be safe from tampering, he said.

“The implications of the electronic health record are profound,” Tew said. “We wanted to make sure these data and their integrity are absolutely sound and protected and always available. It reminds me of the old adage: ‘If a person is prepared, you don’t need to fear.’”

Complete URL: http://journalrecord.com/2010/03/09/omrf-prepared-health-care/