NSHE Institutions Lend Help to State, Communities During Pandemic The Nevada System of Higher Education’s (NSHE’s) eight institutions have risen to help their local communities and state during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Whether it’s students delivering food to the elderly, institutions loaning or donating urgently needed medical supplies, including ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE) to first responders and hospitals, or professors sharing their knowledge with the media and the world to help us all better understand the crisis, NSHE’s eight institutions are helping Nevada get through this historic event. NSHE’s institutions have all rushed to the aid of hospitals, first responders, and our communities and state. Here is a list of some of their efforts. College of Southern Nevada (CSN) • CSN’s Dental Faculty Practice is providing dental services for emergency patients while many private dental offices remain closed. • CSN is donating N-95 masks, other masks, isolation gowns, sterile gloves, and other PPE to local hospitals and first responders that are in critical need, including University Police Services, Henderson Hospital, University Medical Center and Dignity Health. • CSN’s Cardiorespiratory Sciences Program is loaning three ventilators to Henderson Hospital. Desert Research Institute (DRI) • DRI’s population health and data science team, who are leading the research behind the Healthy Nevada Project, are working to help Renown Health assess the risks, possible exposure, and presence of COVID-19 symptoms using data from consenting Nevadans who are participating in the Health Nevada Project. • Utilizing the Health Nevada Project’s participant survey infrastructure, the research team at DRI, led by Joseph Grzymski, Ph.D., are collecting data from Healthy Nevada Project participants. Survey questions address items such as recent domestic and international travel, attendance of large public events, and if study participants are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19, such as a fever. These data can then be used to understand Nevada’s broader population level risks in the coming weeks and months. Additionally, DRI is working to help national research teams at personal genetics company Helix evaluate the efficacy of an at-home testing approach for the detection of COVID-19. The at-home test would require a simple saliva sample, rather than using the current nasal swabbing technique. • Tamara Wall, Ph.D., the Deputy Director of the Western Regional Climate Center based at DRI’s Reno campus, is awaiting approval to begin a social science research study aimed at understanding people’s COVID-19 experiences and stories. Great Basin College (GBC) • GBC accelerated the nursing program for its second-year students so they can graduate early in April in Elko, Pahrump, and Winnemucca to help alleviate the shortage of nurses in Nevada’s rural communities. • Paramedic students will be graduating early in April to help fill the void that we are potentially facing with EMS. • GBC is donating PPE to local hospitals and first responders that are in critical need, including Desert View Hospital, Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital, and University Police Services. Nevada State College (NSC) • NSC is focused on finishing nursing clinical experiences through simulation and labs to prepare our Bachelor of Nursing students to graduate this spring, pass their Nursing Boards and enter the workforce. NSC is adding another cohort of approximately 48 students into the nursing program. • NSC has worked with the City of Henderson and the Southern Nevada Health District to serve as a location for COVID-19 “drive through” testing. • NSC will be providing any PPE reserves to local hospitals. • Graduate students in speech language pathology are continuing to provide telehealth services to adult clients through the speech language pathology clinic under the full supervision of NSC faculty. • A number of volunteer efforts have been undertaken by students and faculty. For example, Dr. Hon-Vu Duong continues to operate an eye clinic. A part-time student in nursing owns a meal delivery company and is delivering free meals to seniors and at-risk groups. Faculty Senate Chair Serge Ballif and his wife, Jenny, are creating educational videos for kids as part of Jenny's Science Mom video series; they're calling it "QuaranTIME" and they're free to the community at large. Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) • TMCC’s Nursing and Allied Health programs have donated PPE to area hospitals and first responders, including the Washoe County Health District, Northern Nevada Medical Center, Quail Surgical and Pain Management Center, UNR Family Health Clinic, Community Health Alliance, and Renown Health. • TMCC is lending the use of two ambulances from its EMS program to the Reno Fire Department. • Faculty and staff at the William N. Pennington Applied Technology Center are gathering materials to start 3D printing PPE masks. The cost of production is roughly $1/mask. Faculty will work in shifts using cautionary measures and abiding by prevention protocols. • In addition to providing support to our healthcare partners in response to COVID-19, TMCC has also donated the time and expertise of its in-house videographer to assist non-profit colleagues in recording and delivering critical messaging to their constituents while abiding by social distancing guidelines. • TMCC is using its online and social media presence to communicate to its students and the community, as a whole. To date, they have compiled numerous mental health and social resources on its website and Facebook page. They are also responding to multiple media requests seeking to understand the psychological impacts of this crisis, as well as how the community can support each other and our children. University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) COVID-19: How the UNLV Community is Responding A selection of news and notes highlighting the recent work of UNLV and its people to support the community during COVID-19. Visit the UNLV News Center for related news. Health and Medicine Nearly 10,000 people have been tested at UNLV Medicine’s COVID-19 curbside test operation since March 23. UNLV Medicine personnel, assisted by the Nevada National Guard, test approximately 300 people per day. Testing is now available to all individuals, regardless of whether they are experiencing symptoms. There is no out-of-pocket cost to patients. Call (702) 583-4408 for a same day or next business day appointments. Beginning Wednesday, May 27, Clark County will begin offering drive-thru COVID-19 testing at UNLV’s Tropicana Parking Garage near the Thomas & Mack Center. Clark County and UMC will operate the site in partnership with UNLV, University Police Services, Clinical Pathology Laboratories (CPL) and the Nevada National Guard. Appointments can be scheduled online or by calling CPL at (702) 795-4932. This testing location is open to anyone, whether or not they are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. The School of Dental Medicine began treating patients in need of urgent care services through its general practice residency, orthodontics, and pediatric dentistry specialty clinics on May 18. Elective procedures are not yet available, per state mandate. Plans are being finalized to open the predoctoral dental student clinics on June 1. School of Dental Medicine clinical faculty members and resident doctors have been screening and treating patients in the school’s emergency dental clinic areas since the COVID-19 pandemic began. To date, more than 500 patients have been screened and nearly 130 have been treated at UNLV Dental Medicine clinics, which lessens the demand on hospital emergency rooms. Public Health graduate students continue to assist the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) by compiling data, conducting interviews and contact tracing, answering questions, and assisting with the overall COVID-19 response. Nursing professor Susan VanBeuge volunteered to be part of Governor Sisolak's Battle Born Medical Corps, the directive aimed at increasing the number of health care professionals in the workforce to help Nevada's fight against COVID-19. Medical students continue to assist with screening and intake for children at day care facilities set up and run by the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson for first responders and mandatory employees. Creating PPE and Needed Supplies Faculty from Dental Medicine and Engineering are using 3D printers to manufacture nasal swabs for COVID-19 test kits. The team includes Dental Medicine faculty James Mah and Pouya Momtaz, and engineering faculty Kwang Kim, Brendan O’Toole, and Jeff Markle. Once the printed swabs are approved for use by the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, a team from the College of Sciences will sterilize and package them with other test kit components created by UNLV. A team of UNLV scientists is assisting the Southern Nevada Public Health Laboratory by making viral transport media (VTM) – a crucial part of specimen collection kits needed to preserve COVID-19 tests for transport from testing locations to processing labs. Life Sciences professor Helen Wing and 16 colleagues from sciences and the medical school are working on the project. Nearly 14,000 vials have been produced to date, with thousands more in production. Rhigel (Jay) Tan, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, designed and created more than 700 face shields for medical workers on the frontlines and has collaborated with community leaders for distribution. He also designed and created more than 200 cloth masks for non­ patient contact in hospitals. A team of UNLV engineers is using a laser cutter to produce protective face shields for the local medical community. Professor Kwang Kim, postdoctoral researcher Taeseon Hwang, and Ph.D. student Justin Neubauer have created and delivered nearly 350 shields thus far. They’ve also made dozens of microscope shields and hosted a Webex conversation on the process with local K-12 STEM students. Dozens of UNLV faculty have donated personal protective equipment (PPE) and other equipment from their labs to the local medical community to aid the COVID-19 response.