The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has called upon several FMIPA UI students and alumni to implement their knowledge in the field of science by serving as Laboratory Analysis volunteers at the University of Indonesia Hospital (RS UI).
They are Putra Mahanaim Tampubolon (Biology 2015 (Alumni)), and Fikri Anugrah Saputra (Biology 2016), who officially joined as non-medical volunteers at RSUI through Batch I registration, on March 22, 2020.
They were followed by three of their colleagues, namely Aulia Reski Widyaningrum (Biology 2013, Alumni), Ferdi Anda Sitepu (Biology 2016), and Aden Dhana Rizkita (Master’s in Chemistry, Alumni), who joined through Batch II registration from April 6–12, 2020.
In carrying out their duties as Laboratory Analysts, the five of them join the UI Hospital laboratory analysis staff and volunteer students from other faculties at UI and other universities, divided into two shifts. The first shift operates in the morning from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. WIB. The second shift operates from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. WIB.
The volunteers’ current task is to test patient swab samples for Covid-19 to produce an accurate diagnosis.
Putra, one of the volunteers, said that in one day there are a maximum of 140 swab samples, with the main samples coming from referrals from the Depok Regional Health Laboratory Service Technical Implementation Unit (UPTD LABKESDA).
“Until now, it can be done running “A maximum of 140 samples per day, the main samples come from the Depok Health Laboratory referral,” added Putra.
He further explained the method and series of processes as follows: RNA extraction from samples swab nasopharynx, oropharynx, anal, feces, as well as SARS-CoV-2 detection using multiplex qRT-PCR.
All of these tasks are of course carried out by paying attention to aspects biosafety and biosecurity agar tidak terjadi laboratory-acquired infection pada relawan dan staf rumah sakit.
To the FMIPA UI Public Relations team, he also expressed his impressions in carrying out this calling of the heart.
For him, the service he and his colleagues undertake is both exciting and challenging. Using the scientific knowledge they’ve acquired during their studies, they can apply it as a tangible contribution to helping the country.
They are also required to work hard and critically to understand and interpret every test result issued by the machine. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to avoid misdiagnosis.
“We must understand and be able to interpret every result that comes out of the PCR machine. We must not let it become… false positive or false negativehe said.
Putra also reminded everyone that preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 is the most powerful mitigation measure against COVID-19, so knowing who is truly positive and who is not is key.
“We hope that the accurate diagnosis performed at RSUI will be able to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia,” he added in closing.
