By Madeline Lanning, Opinion Editor
With increasing numbers of students having to be tested due to random testing protocols, Susquehanna has had to make adjustments in the way COVID-19 tests are being administered.
Faculty from the sporting complexes on campus are now being submitted to handing out the random tests to students. Some are just there to check students in, but others are actually swabbing students and collecting samples.
Many students, including myself, have been on edge about this procedure for many reasons. The first of them being that these individuals are not medically trained staff.
Yes, of course, most coaches and trainers have gone through extensive training on wrapping an ankle or concussion protocols, but I’m sure they were not prepared to be administering COVID-19 tests.
While there was most likely a training session held for these staff members on the proper way to collect samples, students were not made aware of it. That posed another concern on campus because many who have been randomly tested are scared it was not done properly and they will have to be submitted to the nose swab once again. How are they to know otherwise seeing as there was no forewarning to who would be administering their test?
Loads of tests have come back inconclusive, and while that may have to do with students not following pre-test directions properly, how are we to know? The staff could have swabbed us incorrectly or sealed up the test tubes wrong, making for an inconclusive test result. This could spawn from lack of training or overall ignorance.
Going along with this, some students have been asked to be randomly tested multiple weeks in a row. Following testing, students receive an email stating that if this happens it is a mistake on the university’s end and will be handled. So, the reliability of the systems being used to check students into these testing sights is extremely disheartening.
To help ease the stress of the unknowns, administration at Susquehanna could send out videos or training protocols that have taken place. For example, if faculty went through extensive training in the past few weeks on how to properly swab students, we could watch and learn from those same training sessions. There should also be a list sent out of who is registered as a COVID-19 test provider so that students know who they can expect to see at their testing sights.
Susquehanna has done most COVID-19 related things quite well, but personally the random testing by staff on campus is the most concerning. Hopefully there will come a day that we see little to no flaws in the system they use, or a decrease in cases all together. For now, we just have to trust that the university did its part to keep us safe and trained its staff well enough to do the same.
