Animal Biosafety Training: Core Concepts and Competencies ... · REGIONAL BIOCONTAINMENT LABORATORY Animal Biosafety Training: Core Concepts and Competencies for Working with Animals

REGIONAL BIOCONTAINMENT LABORATORY

Animal Biosafety Training: Core Concepts and Competencies for Working with Animals in

ContainmentTimothy D. Mandrell, DVM, Dipl. ACLAM

Professor and ChairDepartment of Comparative Medicine

University of Tennessee Health Science Center


Who needs training?

• Investigators• Research personnel• Animal technical staff• Animal care staff• Facility management

and operations• Facility support


Required Training: All Personnel Who Work in Containment

• Animal Biosafety Levels• Animal Biosafety Risk Assessment and

Management• Animal Facility Design for Containment• Biocontainment Equipment• Biosecurity


Required Training: All Personnel

• Concepts and Practices of Animal Biosafety: ABSL-2 and ABSL-3

• Incident Planning and Response• Institutional Responsibilities• Decontamination• Occupational Health• Select Agents and Toxins


Required Training: Working with Animals in Containment

• Animal Husbandry• Animal Health• Biosecurity and cross contamination• Decontamination • Documents and recordkeeping



• Transport• Research procedures• Emergencies• Occupational health concerns



• Basic and didactic training– AALAS Animal Biosafety Training

Program– CITI Biosafety and Biosecurity

Courses

• Facility Specific training– Emergency response– Decontamination– Agent specific– Animal specific


The Challenge of Training Personnel on Animal Procedures

• Animal handling• Animal husbandry• Animal research procedures


Program Responsibilities for Training

• Ensure training is effective

• Ensure that personnel who are trained understand and use that knowledge and skill properly


Competency

Possession of required skill, knowledge, qualification or

capacity


Competency Assessment or Evaluation

• Evaluates knowledge– Written Exam

• Demonstrate application of knowledge– Practical Exam – Direct observation for technical

skills and abilities*


Animal Care and Use Training• Regulatory compliance• Species specific training• Animal technical

procedures– Handling and restraint– Anesthesia– Administration of test substances– Collection of biological samples

……….in containment.


Progressive TrainingBasic procedures in learning friendly environment

– Animal lab– Bench top– Standard PPE


Effective Animal Care Training

• Good learning environment

• Add additional degrees of complexity

• Simulate actual conditions

• Practice, practice, practice

• Trainer sign off


Progressive Training


Practice skills and increase complexity

• Benchtop with standard PPE

• Inside BSC with standard PPE

• Inside BSC with full PPE– Goggles/N95– PAPR


Train and assess animal skills• Is the trainee comfortable handling animals?

• Does the trainee know how to perform procedures correctly?

• Does the trainee understand consequence of incorrect procedure?


Training In Containment

• Initial training without live agent• Naïve animals• Progress to live agent and infected animals.• Buddy system and observation• Trainer signs off at each level


Refresher Training

• Retraining• Reassessment

– Looking for deviation from SOP– Quality control– Documentation


Never make assumptions

Technical competency with one procedure or species does not confer competency for another procedure or species.


Animal Biosafety Training

• Progressive training• Practice makes perfect• Trainer sign off• Continuing assessment• Never Assume


Thanks!