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Members of the UAMS mobile triage unit confer before the opening of the COVID-19 drive-thru in East Camden. Image by Bryan Clifton

UAMS COVID-19 Mobile Triage Rolls into Four Arkansas Cities

April 24, 2020 | The UAMS Mobile Triage Unit had its busiest week yet, providing COVID-19 drive-thru evaluations to more than 300 Arkansas residents in four cities: McGehee, Marianna, East Camden and Forrest City.

“In these more rural locations, the patients and communities are very welcoming. We are serving an important need,” said Jennifer Hunt, M.D., who leads the team at each drive-thru. “We’ve had great support from our local volunteers, from the mayors, state representatives and county officials.”

Hunt is chair of the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Pathology and Laboratory Services and director of the UAMS Triage Unit conducting drive-thru evaluations on the UAMS campus. The first mobile drive-thru was conducted April 2 in Helena, and the mobile unit has continued with trips to Texarkana as well as repeat trips to Helena and Forrest City.

UAMS Regional Campuses have supported many of the drive-thru clinics. In East Camden on April 22, UAMS South Regional Campus participated, led by its residency director Mimo Lemdja, M.D.

At the drive-thru entrances, residents are seen by one of the nurses then drive into the service areas in front of public buildings to be asked a series of screening questions by one of the UAMS physicians on site. Their condition and answers determined if they neede testing. The swabs are performed by experienced nurses and medics from the National Guard who obtain a specimen with from the back part of the nose.

The samples are taken back to UAMS for processing and follow-up with the patients with their results in a couple of days. No patient had to get out of their vehicle, and all the screeners were equipped and wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, eye protection, gloves and disposable medical gowns.

Lemdja said that before the drive-thru, physicians at UAMS South Regional Campus have educated patients and the public about safe practices and criteria for COVID-19 testing.

“We started screening every patient at UAMS South, and we had to educate them on the guidelines early on,” Lemdja said. “Our residents and I have spent so much time educating patients over the phone, too. At the end of each conversation, they feel less frightened and more hopeful.”

East Camden Mayor Angie McAdoo said she feels residents in her city and the surrounding counties are increasingly aware of the risks of COVD-19 and of what they should do in response.

“I think this has really gotten the attention of local people,” McAdoo said. “We watch the governor’s news conference every day. It’s our new way of life. In Ouachita County, we have done extremely well adhering to the guidelines the governor and CDC have put before us.”

Although the area has skilled physicians and nurses and a county preparedness plan for other types of crises, the scale of the COVID-19 global pandemic can feel a little overwhelming, Camden Mayor Julian Lott said. Disparities in income and in transportation often limit access to health care in rural Arkansas.

“A project like this drive-thru in East Camden helps us to be able to say we are doing our part, Lott said. “If you get here, they are going to treat you with dignity and respect. UAMS has a reputation for treating people the right way. It doesn’t matter how much money you have. That is what I consider a blessing. Things like that make a difference to me. This is amazing for south Arkansas.”