UK-PHRST deploys staff and Rapid Response Mobile Lab for the first time to support UK government’s hantavirus response

As part of the wider UK Government response to the hantavirus outbreak, the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team, has deployed its rapid response mobile laboratory (RRML) and three UKHSA staff members to the British Overseas Territory of St Helena.

Green for go: UK-PHRST joins international teams to test-run co-deploying mobile lab equipment and expertise

The Rapid Response Mobile Lab (RRML) Network – a community of practice of lab specialists and experts created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) – recently set about creating, testing and refining a common set of RRML Minimum Operational Standards. As a part of the RRML Network, the UK-Public Health Rapid Support Team took part in the first ever Interregional Field Simulation Exercise (IFX): a three-part exercise to review and test the proposed minimum standards across the whole RRML life cycle, from pre-deployment, during outbreak response and end-of-mission phases. Here are the highlights, challenges and learnings from the three-part exercise.