Life in a BL-4 blue suit
When Bobbie Rae Erickson goes to work in the morning,
she deals with a dress code that few nine-to-fivers
would accept. But most of us don’t earn a living
tinkering with Ebola virus.
In high school, Erickson read The Hot Zone,
a thriller by Richard Preston about an onslaught of
Ebola in the United States, and became fascinated with
the world of dangerous viruses. Now, she’s a microbiologist
at one of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention’s BL-4 labs in Atlanta, Georgia—facilities
that also study anthrax, smallpox, and bubonic plague,
to name a few.
When Erickson arrives at the “office,” she
first needs to make sure that she has all her supplies,
since once she’s in the lab, it’s too late
to realize she’s short one pipette. Next she changes
into scrubs, just like a surgeon.
Then comes the blue suit (shown here on another researcher).
This maximum-containment attire is made from chlorinated
polyethylene and feels like thick Saran wrap. The suit
covers her entire body except her hands. These she protects
with a pair of latex gloves and a pair of thick rubber
gloves, both attached to the suit with duct tape.
Next Erickson checks her air regulator, a small silver
box attached to her waist. Now she’s ready to
go to work.
She enters the lab and makes her way to the bench.
She reaches up and grabs one of the air hoses hanging
from the ceiling. When she plugs it into the side of
her suit, a high-pitched whistling sound assaults her
ears. That air keeps the suit positively pressured,
and it’s why all BL-4 workers wear ear plugs.
To speak with her lab neighbor, or to talk on the phone,
she needs to unplug the air hose and yell.
Getting out of the suit takes almost a half-hour. For
this, she first takes a chemical Lysol shower while
wearing the suit, followed by a thorough personal shower.
Only then may she leave the lab area.
What if, while working at the bench, she suddenly needs
to use the restroom? “Simple,” Erickson
says. “I don’t. If I know I’ll be
spending four hours in the lab, I just won’t drink
anything that morning.”
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