Texas Military Department Citizen Soldiers and Airmen instate new COVID-19 testing method

EL PASO, TX, UNITED STATES

07.14.2020

Story by Staff Sgt. Sean Kornegay 

Texas Military Department

Texas Military Department Citizen Soldiers and Airmen instated a new COVID-19 testing method on June 30, 2020. The TMD members replaced the nasal swab test with an oral swab civilians can conduct personally.

Lieutenant Colonel Karl Woodmansey, the Dental Services Chief for the 136th Airlift Wing Medical Group, shares his narrative on the new form of testing:

“Our mission is to test the citizens of El Paso for the coronavirus. I’m very excited, because we have a new test that we are just now implementing. It’s a self-test, where instead of the traditional nasopharyngeal swab testing, we are able to allow individuals to self-test.

We provide them with the supplies and then they perform a swab of the inside of their mouth. Instead of having to stick a swab deep within the nose, patients are able to simply swab the inside of their mouth and place that swab into a vial, and then we send those vials to the lab.

The big advantage to this test is that we do not need medics to administer the test. Whereas, with the nasopharyngeal swab test we did. We also had to train those medics to perform the test properly in order to get the best results. For that test you need a swab from the very back of the nose, and that takes some skill.

With the oral swab, because the individual administers the test to themselves, we don’t need medics for that. Ultimately, the National Guard is hoping to transfer this mission to a civilian contractor, and when that occurs the contractor would not need to hire medics.

Our nation is looking to the National Guard to help and we will not let them down. What the National Guard is doing here in Texas is part of a nationwide effort to combat this virus."

• Date Taken: 07.14.2020
• Date Posted: 07.15.2020 00:18
• Story ID: 373918
• Location: EL PASO, TX, US