MLT students learn about biosafety

Becky Bonacci, assistant state training coordinator for the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, talks about biosafety with students in the Medical Laboratory Technician program at North Platte Community College Wednesday afternoon.

The presentation served as a prelude to a “Benchtop Biohazards - Recognize, Rule Out and Refer Wet Workshop” planned for Thursday at the college. The intermediate-level, hands-on laboratory wet workshop is designed for experienced clinical microbiologists responsible for recognizing potential hazardous special pathogens.

Its purpose is to provide sentinel laboratorians with the knowledge to “recognize, rule out and refer” organisms that may be naturally occurring hazardous pathogens or agents of a bioterrorism event.

Through lecture and hands-on training, the workshop will outline the diagnostic procedures to identify those agents so that participants can identify the culture growth, Gram stain and biochemical characteristics of each. The importance of strict safety protocols when handling suspected agents will also be emphasized.