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The Lab Safety Gurus
From Stress to Success: Navigating Lab Emergencies
How prepared are you mentally to handle a lab emergency? Join us as we unpack this crucial—but often overlooked—aspect of laboratory safety. In this riveting episode of the Lab Safety Gurus Podcast, we dive into the heart of psychological preparedness for lab workers. Dan Scungio shares his firsthand encounters with unexpected lab incidents, such as unknown source exposures and accidental pathogen contact. We discuss the everyday stressors of the lab environment, from staffing shortages to tight deadlines, and how they can lead to burnout, anxiety, and reduced performance. These factors can severely impede effective emergency responses, making mental readiness a vital component of laboratory safety.
Leadership and continuous improvement are pillars of a robust emergency response plan. We emphasize the importance of having a dedicated individual to document events during emergencies, facilitating thorough reviews or "hot wash" meetings to identify strengths and areas for improvement. Tabletop scenarios and drills are not just beneficial—they're essential for discovering weak points in your emergency management plans. Effective leadership during crises is also highlighted; a calm and composed leader can make all the difference, guiding their team with confidence and reassurance. Tune in as Dan Scungio and Sean Kaufman stress the indispensable role of planning and leadership in safeguarding our labs.
Welcome to the Lab Safety Gurus Podcast. I'm Dan Scungio.
Speaker 2:And I'm Sean Coffman, and together we're providing safety insights for those working in laboratory settings, doing safety together. Hi, dan, welcome back. We're a little bit behind. We're supposed to be doing a September and an October, so we're going to do this kind of back-to-back, but this represents our September podcast. Welcome back, I think you've been on vacation.
Speaker 1:Hi, sean, it's great to talk to you again. My wife and I were able to take a dream vacation over to the Mediterranean and stop at some ports there. It was outstanding.
Speaker 2:Well, our hearts and thoughts and prayers are going out to anybody who may be struggling from the most recent emergency hurricane. I know that it came up through Florida into Georgia. We got a little bit of it here in Georgia, but certainly not as bad as what we're seeing in Florida, east parts of Georgia, north Carolina from what I understand, I mean just a lot of people. Our hearts, our thoughts, our prayers are with those individuals who are struggling. I don't know, dan, how did you guys fare up in Virginia? Did you guys get anything up there?
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're getting a little bit sort of today and in the last couple of days sort of in the middle of the state, but nothing like they got in North Carolina and some other areas. They just got hit so hard and definitely we've been praying for them and anything we can do for them we're happy to do it.
Speaker 2:Well, I thought what we'd do to stay kind of in line with the theme is talk a little bit about psychological preparedness for the laboratory emergencies and, just in general, psychological preparedness for those who work in the laboratory. And I think that's an important aspect because laboratories, like most people know, are environments that are high stake and when emergencies happen, not only can they significantly impact the health and safety of those working in a lab, but it could actually impact the health and safety of those working outside the lab as well. So I think it's an important thing to consider. I don't know what your thoughts are on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, sean, I've run into a couple of things in my career where we've had to deal with people who have had some lab incident happen to them and suddenly there are consequences that they've never been prepared for. Something as simple maybe it's not simple as an unknown source exposure as simple maybe it's not simple as an unknown source exposure. And now you have to take prophylactic medication that's potentially bad for your health, although you're taking it to keep you from getting HIV or hepatitis or something like that. But now they tell you you know you really you shouldn't be sleeping with your partner for six months.
Speaker 1:And there are a lot of personal things they tell you when you're on this prophylaxis. And there have been some other incidents I've been involved with where you know maybe somebody got accidentally exposed to you know a select pathogen or something like a Brucella or Francisella, and you have to talk to them about what are the potentials and you know we might want to put you on antibiotics. And it scares people If they're not prepared for that or not thinking about some of the harmful things that they're working with on a regular basis. And, of course, over time, people become complacent and then all of a sudden, when you're faced with the reality of some of the dangers of the environment that you're in, you may not be psychologically ready for it.
Speaker 2:Absolutely 100%. Now, when we talk about preparedness, we definitely have some threats in the lab, and let's talk a little bit because we're talking about the psychological aspects of the lab. What are some of the top stressors that you find in the laboratory, dan? What are some common stressors that lab personnel have?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think common stressors that we hear about involve like staffing shortages, pressures about getting the work out on time and just being able to get you know laboratory work is important, but there's also paperwork and things. Being able to get you know laboratory work is important, but there's also paperwork and things that have to be done along with it and not being able to get that done as well. But those are some of the bigger stressors in the realms in the labs where I work.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely. I see, you know, I see very, very tight deadlines, not having enough resources to achieve those deadlines. Also, you know, doing this work, these experiments can sometimes be high pressure. They can be with animals that are unpredictable and, quite honestly, a mistake can lead to an exposure to a hazardous agent or even a hazardous chemical. So let me ask you this though, dan, and this is you're always coming into work, you're always getting that type of stress. What do those types of stressors lead to if we're not psychologically prepared for them?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think we burn out. I think we react poorly when something happens if we're not psychologically ready. And I think, over time, if nothing major happens, if there are no emergent situations, that living like that, though, can sort of burn you out and you're kind of ready to move on or maybe even end your career way too early if you're not prepared to work in that sort of environment.
Speaker 2:So, absolutely so. Anxiety, burnout and, like you said, decreased performance. I agree 100%. Well, let's take that environment. So we've got these stressors that are normal in the laboratory environment. We know how those stressors, if they're not addressed, begin to kind of weigh on people. What about emergency response? So what about the ability, with all of those things weighing heavy on somebody? How can that stress affect their ability to respond during an emergency situation?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's an important point, Sean, because you're given let's say you have an emergency management plan for your laboratory. Depending on you know it should be sort of a you do an all hazards approach, right, whatever hazards you think could happen in this laboratory, you're going to try to create a plan to deal with them to the best of your ability. But you've got to teach that, you've got to know that, and these are you know, emergency management situations are not things that happen every day, and so if you're not ready for it, if you don't know what the procedure is, if you haven't drilled for it, the staff just isn't going to respond well. So if you throw a poor response into what's already going to be a chaotic situation, you're just adding more bad news to the situation.
Speaker 1:Under normal circumstances I'm using normal with air quotes when people are ready for some sort of disaster or emergency management situation, people still react with. It's still chaos, and that's everybody I've talked to after some lab floods and hurricanes. I've talked to some people who've been through some emergency situations and chaos is just. It's a natural product of an emergency-type situation. A lot of things are happening that people have never been involved with before, and so if you're not psychologically ready and you sort of throw that into the fire, so to speak, it's going to make it a lot worse, I think.
Speaker 2:Well, no, absolutely 100%. And before we transition, because I think it's important that we, you know, let's imagine that we are going through an emergency and we are in a high stress situation. Dan, we're going to talk a little bit about how we can prepare, which actually helps us with our psychological preparedness, but let's zoom in on that moment where we are having high levels of stress. What are some things that we can do in those moments that reduce our overall stress levels?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think there are a couple things you can do, and some of it may depend on the kind of person you are. For me, you know I'm going to be praying while I'm going through that kind of situation. For me, you know I'm going to be praying while I'm going through that kind of situation. I'm going to be trying to remember the most important things to do based on my training. But you also have to remember that everybody else in your group and in your situation is also stressed out going through the same situation, and so remembering kindness for our coworkers I think about these poor hospitals in North Carolina where they're evacuating patients Laboratorians in those hospitals.
Speaker 1:They're not used to evacuating, they don't help evacuate patients, but they may be asked to be pulled into those situations because really the lab's not going to be doing anything. Then you need to be mentally prepared as well to be doing something you've never done before and helping in a way that you've never helped before. So having a helping mindset throughout the situation will really help. And also, it's really important to remember that everybody else is going through it the same time you are, so calm down as best you can and work your way through it and try to help other people through the situation, because it will pass.
Speaker 1:But it's a lot to bring to the forefront of your mind so that you're not you don't want to create situations where you're butting heads with other people, you're arguing, you're disagreeing, you're yelling. None of that's going to help you in that kind of a situation, so it's important to remember that others are going through it too.
Speaker 2:I think it's important. You know we obviously you have, you know, breathing exercises. My favorite, dan, is just to take a time out to turn everything off, get away from phones, get away from TVs, and take a 15-minute time out where you focus on your breathing, you reflect on the most important aspects in your life and then come back with vigor and kind of a sense of being refilled. But one thing that I also know that has worked for me is actually being prepared, so actually having plans in place. So, for example, dan, I was on the road when the hurricane was getting ready to hit. This was two days prior and I said to Jacqueline I said, hey, jacqueline, do me a favor, get all the cars filled with gas. Make sure that we have backup chargers that are full for our phones if we need to plug in.
Speaker 2:Dan, I love sleeping with a fan on and we have fans that are that are battery operated, you know, by charging, and I said could you please charge the fans for me so I have a fan blowing on me if we lose power? You know, make sure we got some water extra. You know, extra supplies. These are things that when we know an emergency could happen, when we're anticipating that one could happen. Having a game plan in place can actually help minimize anxiety and stress associated with emergencies. So that's what I want to talk about now is what type of training and simulation would you recommend for people in laboratory environments to practice Like? What type of emergencies do you think they should practice to be prepared or to be better psychologically prepared for emergencies?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think there's a couple different kinds of emergencies. What's really? This will sound strange, but what's really nice about a hurricane or a blizzard or some sort of natural disaster like that is they're predictable to some degree. You've got a couple days warning. So when you, if you do a tabletop drill, uh, in your lab, about you know a storm coming, a hurricane or something like that, you know, you do have to talk about things like you know. Just like you talked about, sean, doing preparations at home. You have to do preparations at work.
Speaker 1:If I'm going to be stuck in this laboratory for a couple days, potentially because of the weather, I need to bring my medications, I need to bring my change of clothes, I need to bring my favorite pillow, whatever it is, and that needs to be part of your drilling as well. So that needs to be practiced. Again. The best way to do that, I think, is like a tabletop drill, where you're going over the different scenarios. Okay, the power just went out, now what are you going to do? Okay, the water just went out, now what are our options? And the other kind of disaster, sean, I think, is the unexpected kind, you know, and something you know. It depends on what area of the country where you live in or the world right. It could be an earthquake, it could be a plane crash or something you did not expect to affect your facility, your building, your laboratory. That's a little bit harder to work through, but it also should be drilled, because the unexpected can happen just as easily as the expected when it comes to natural disasters or emergency management situations.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely. I can't even imagine there's got to be some folks that you know if they don't have power for weeks and you've got research facilities with freezers, there better be some type of redundancy in place, otherwise you're going to lose years and years worth of freezers by not having a place you could ship your samples to and keep them, you know, viable or keep them cool. Dan, let me, because we're getting towards the end of our time. I've got three big issues. I want to talk to you about Resiliency and continuous improvement. Now. The resiliency is defined as the ability for laboratories to bounce back after they've had an emergency or a crisis or a situation, and that really is something that relies on having good relationships, having a good sense of what your mission and your vision statements are. But talk to me a little bit about continuous evaluation and continuous improvement, not only during, but maybe following, an emergency event. What should organizations do to practice continuous improvement following an emergency?
Speaker 1:Yeah, one of the first things you should be doing is somebody during the emergency management situation should be keeping track of all the goings on, and maybe you have a scribe or somebody who's in charge of keeping that information, because it is extremely valuable to have a hot wash or some sort of review after the fact with the people who are involved in it.
Speaker 1:And there are also other things to consider.
Speaker 1:After you know, maybe you need to take pictures for insurance purposes, other issues like that that come up.
Speaker 1:But when you have that discussion in those meetings and you might not get it all covered in one meeting by any stretch about what went really well and what did not go so really well and what can we do to improve this for the next time and you don't have to live through an actual event to do that you can go through a good tabletop scenario and then it helps you find the holes in your emergency management plan. But the real situation will also help you find those holes as well. But it's always a great opportunity for continual improvement because you now see where those holes are. You now see where people maybe didn't do what they were supposed to do or your system wasn't set up the way it should be set up, and so you make that better for the next time and you continue to do that, and then, if no other disaster is coming, have a drill and see how that's going to work with the improvements that you made, and then work on it and work on it and continually make those improvements.
Speaker 2:Now, dan, when I was a little kid final topic here when I was a little kid and I would get scared, my father would always say look at me. And I would look at him and he'd say do I look scared? And I'd say no and he goes. Then you have no reason to be scared. Leadership all eyes during an emergency response are on leaders. All eyes, we all, look to the leaders during an emergency. Tell me, dan, your thoughts on what leadership and what leadership's role is.
Speaker 1:What should a?
Speaker 2:leader be and what should a leader do during an emergency situation?
Speaker 1:And they do have to remember you are the role model. People are going to be looking to you in that situation, not just the laboratory leader, but the safety leader. If that's a different person, sometimes they're one and the same but if you're in charge of that situation, or you're the lead, or consider the lead for any kind of emergency management situation, do remember that everybody's going to be looking to you, no matter how you're feeling, no matter how you're responding, and so you do need to have that level of that sense of calmness, the ability to speak to others and keep them calm, because you are, in a sense, their father or their mother in that situation. And look at me, we're going to be okay, we're going to get through this. This is how we're going to do it.
Speaker 1:And if you are the leader and you need to take a moment for yourself, like Sean talked about earlier, go do that. Go close the door for a minute, take a few deep breaths, say a prayer, do whatever you need to do to settle yourself, center yourself and then go back to it. But it is important to remember to lead that situation. You are a leader and you are a role model and people are looking to you, so be ready for that. Psychologically, however, you need to prepare. Get yourself ready, because it's going to be key to do that.
Speaker 2:Very good, dan, very good. Nothing to add there, dan. I want to thank you again. It's good to talk with you this month. Ladies and gentlemen, take care of yourselves. Not only be psychologically prepared, but remember that one of the greatest things you can do to psychologically prepare is to actually have a plan, have resources and be ready for when or if an emergency situation occurs. We are the lab safety gurus Dan Scungio and Sean Kaufman.
Speaker 1:Thank you for letting us do lab safety together.