Mobilizing an Institutional Research Enterprise to Support Pandemic Diagnostic Care: Establishing a Clinical Laboratory Volunteer Operation.

Context.—: The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a worldwide crisis that created unprecedented challenges for the health care system, including diagnostic laboratories that faced an ever-increasing demand for SARS-CoV-2 testing.

Objective.—: To share our experiences mobilizing a large-scale volunteer operation within a diagnostic laboratory in response to the COVID-19 crisis. In particular, during the early stages of the pandemic, research scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were called upon to address challenges put forth by the rapid increase in testing demands. Volunteer scientists became a valuable resource to the clinical laboratory team after stay-at-home orders were in place and rapid diagnostic capabilities for COVID-19 were not yet widespread, thus necessitating significant manual laboratory analysis to support patient care. However, these volunteer efforts were not without challenges, including considerations around the licensure of clinical laboratory workers. Requirements can differ significantly between states and, in our case, were alleviated by an emergency gubernatorial decree.

Data Sources.—: We summarize these experiences here as an operational roadmap for other institutions that wish to leverage biomedical research staff in response to future emergencies. We include recruitment and organizational schemes, as well as results of a survey that details participant experiences and identifies strategies for optimization. Lastly, we present considerations around long-term hosting of clinical laboratory volunteers, beyond just the initial stages of an emergency.

Conclusions.—: Through strategic implementation, scientists can provide diagnostic laboratories with invaluable support in times of need, while maintaining high clinical quality and regulatory compliance.