EHD swabs and "false" detections
Aug 26, 2012, 7:54 pm
#1
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EHD swabs and "false" detections
Today I observed a practice by a two-striper TSA supervisor that partially suprised me, and partially confirmed some suspicions.
Saw the supervisor pulling ETD swabs out of the container and fanning them (like one would do with a ream of paper prior to putting the paper in a printer so that the paper is pulled without jamming), and then putting them back into the container. I assume she did this to make it easier for the TSOs to pull a single swab from the container.
What made me notice this behavior? She did it with her bare hands. No gloves.
So much for "avoiding" contamination; I pity the poor pax who gets flagged for a full secondary patdown and inspection because of such contamination.
Saw the supervisor pulling ETD swabs out of the container and fanning them (like one would do with a ream of paper prior to putting the paper in a printer so that the paper is pulled without jamming), and then putting them back into the container. I assume she did this to make it easier for the TSOs to pull a single swab from the container.
What made me notice this behavior? She did it with her bare hands. No gloves.
So much for "avoiding" contamination; I pity the poor pax who gets flagged for a full secondary patdown and inspection because of such contamination.
Aug 27, 2012, 3:08 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 2008
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Fanning the swabs like that does make them easier to get out one at a time, but I have always seen it done with gloves on (and fresh gloves at that). Contamination control is a difficult concept to get across to some people, in that you have to consider everything involved in the process - the surface, the hands doing the work, the container, the gloves.
Aug 27, 2012, 3:41 am
#4
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Fanning the swabs like that does make them easier to get out one at a time, but I have always seen it done with gloves on (and fresh gloves at that). Contamination control is a difficult concept to get across to some people, in that you have to consider everything involved in the process - the surface, the hands doing the work, the container, the gloves.
Aug 27, 2012, 5:04 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 45
Fanning the swabs like that does make them easier to get out one at a time, but I have always seen it done with gloves on (and fresh gloves at that). Contamination control is a difficult concept to get across to some people, in that you have to consider everything involved in the process - the surface, the hands doing the work, the container, the gloves.
Aug 27, 2012, 7:10 am
#6
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Fanning the swabs like that does make them easier to get out one at a time, but I have always seen it done with gloves on (and fresh gloves at that). Contamination control is a difficult concept to get across to some people, in that you have to consider everything involved in the process - the surface, the hands doing the work, the container, the gloves.
What good are these swabs anyhow? If it is true that TSA ETD systems alarm on the small content of hydrogen peroxide in a product such as Clear Care then the number of false alarms makes the devices impractical for any meaningful testing.
Aug 27, 2012, 7:11 am
#7
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TSA could care less about a persons health and safety.
Aug 27, 2012, 7:19 am
#8
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So it seems that cross contamination caused by TSA employees is probably more the rule than the exception.
What good are these swabs anyhow? If it is true that TSA ETD systems alarm on the small content of hydrogen peroxide in a product such as Clear Care then the number of false alarms makes the devices impractical for any meaningful testing.
What good are these swabs anyhow? If it is true that TSA ETD systems alarm on the small content of hydrogen peroxide in a product such as Clear Care then the number of false alarms makes the devices impractical for any meaningful testing.
The swabs function just as they are designed, as a media to collect things, they are quite suited to that purpose.
Aug 27, 2012, 7:21 am
#9
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Aug 27, 2012, 9:42 am
#10
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Cross contamination is probably something that happens, it would be impossible in a checkpoint setting to completely prevent it. We have training on it regularly to keep awareness up. The enviornment is probably responsible for some cross contamination as well, the air quality and dust levels in the checkpoints are miserable at most locations I have ever seen.
The swabs function just as they are designed, as a media to collect things, they are quite suited to that purpose.
The swabs function just as they are designed, as a media to collect things, they are quite suited to that purpose.
TSA seems to have a habit of deploying systems that offer little security benefit.
Aug 27, 2012, 12:21 pm
#11
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Aug 27, 2012, 12:22 pm
#12
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Expensive and useless, all of them.
Last edited by essxjay; Sep 5, 2012 at 2:11 pm Reason: derogatory
Aug 27, 2012, 7:15 pm
#13
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Cross contamination is probably something that happens, it would be impossible in a checkpoint setting to completely prevent it. We have training on it regularly to keep awareness up. The enviornment is probably responsible for some cross contamination as well, the air quality and dust levels in the checkpoints are miserable at most locations I have ever seen.
The swabs function just as they are designed, as a media to collect things, they are quite suited to that purpose.
The swabs function just as they are designed, as a media to collect things, they are quite suited to that purpose.
How can you sleep at night; or, don't you care?
As for me, I want our country back.
Aug 27, 2012, 9:03 pm
#14
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: SYD (perenially), GVA (not in a long time)
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Gee, the price we pay for the really tough job you have is simply to accept lots of false positives. And, it's just the nature of the business, because of the really hard job of preventing contamination, that We, The People, are immediately suspected of being a terrorist and have to accept being intimidated into a private room where our genitals are cupped with the front of the hand and every piece of carry-on luggage examined. Simultaneously, of course, we are interrogated as to the nature of our travel and all of the details.
How can you sleep at night; or, don't you care?
As for me, I want our country back.
How can you sleep at night; or, don't you care?
As for me, I want our country back.
Try to imagine a hospital setting where the janitor, having just cleaned the toilets, "helps out" the doctors by rearranging sterile bandages and instruments in the operating theater. Try to imagine surgeons shrugging and saying "Cross contamination is probably something that happens, it would be impossible in a hospital to completely prevent it. We have training on it regularly to keep awareness up."
I'm sure the patients who got infections would be happy that at least the hospital staff had training to be aware of the cross-contamination.
Aug 27, 2012, 11:46 pm
#15
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,425
The lack of empathy or conscience is really a pity. It's amazing what a paycheck can get you to accept.
