Photo By Sgt. Michael Baltz | Florida National Guard Pvt. 1st Class Zachary Eddy, with the 868th Engineer Company,...... read more read more
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Working in collaboration with the Jacksonville Fire & Rescue Department, Soldiers with the Florida National Guard’s 868th Engineer Company opened Jacksonville’s first walk-up testing site at Henry L. Brown Kooker Park.
The site will be open each day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1400 East 20th St. and is available to anyone who wants to get tested for COVID-19. There will be 200 tests available daily, and there will be no available parking.
“We felt in an area like this, some may be underserved,” said Dr. Brad Elias, medical director for JFRD. “Maybe some people don’t have access to vehicles, we wanted to bring the testing to them.”
Tests will be the throat and nasal swab kits, and should take approximately 8-10 minutes once a patient enters the lane to complete it.
“This allows them the same opportunity as everyone to get the same test that we are administering throughout the city of Jacksonville,” said Sgt. 1st Class Robby Creech, with the 868th Engineer Company.
Once assigned to a lane, a patient will be asked to provide contact information for results, then be swabbed by one of the FLNG’s combat medics, who received additional training by members of JFRD. Upon the completion of the test, the patient will be provided information as to how to obtain their results.
Safety measures throughout the process parallel the guidelines from the Center for Disease Control. With the help of cones and markers, patients will be staggered by six feet and everyone will be provided a surgical mask.
“Once they come in, they’re handed a surgical mask which immediately cuts the transmission risk down sufficiently,” said Elias. “Each person that comes here to be tested is wearing a surgical mask.
The new site continues the partnership for COJ, JFRD and the FLNG.
“Great collaboration with [the FLNG] leadership and with [the FLNG] personal,” said Elias. “We could not have done all this testing without the collaboration between the city of Jacksonville, the fire department and the National Guard.”
FLNG Soldiers are deployed throughout the state in support of COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s just what we do, we take care of the folks that live in the state of Florida,” said Creech. “Jacksonville is family to us, and we’re here to support them.”
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.24.2020 16:44 |
| Story ID: | 368433 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 124 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, COJ Opens Walk-up Testing Site; FLNG Operating It, by SGT Michael Baltz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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