METADATA last updated: 2026-03-16 RT file_name: _context-commentary_guides-test-training.md category: guides subcategory: test-training gfile_url: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S6h3QfU0HthWXZA25EH2U3mSBIDrGBNYfm5-2X3MyrU words: 844 tokens: 1106 CONTENT ## Context The `guides/test-training` subcategory contains materials from FloodLAMP's structured, video-based training program for its QuickColor COVID-19 test. The program was designed to enable new operators, including non-laboratory personnel such as firefighters, to learn the full testing workflow independently, including safety and contamination control through sample processing, amplification, and result logging. The training system used Moodle Cloud as the learning management platform, with EdPuzzle integrated for interactive video content. An administrative guide `CRTT Moodle and EdPuzzle Guide` documented how to manage the platform, including user enrollment, course setup, content creation, activity completion settings, course copying, and learner reporting. The concept for the training program originated with FloodLAMP and was developed with a consulting firm specializing in educational curriculum development. A series of 17 training videos were produced covering the complete testing workflow. The transcripts, preserved in the archive file `Test Training Video Transcripts`, address: introductory orientation; safety and PPE; contamination protocols for RNase, positive control, sample cross-contamination, and amplicon handling; each procedural step from 1X inactivation solution preparation through the inactivation step, reaction mix preparation, thawing, adding samples to reactions, intaking samples via the FloodLAMP app, resulting, and run logging. Scale-up procedures for larger batches including dispensing and water bath inactivation; and appendices on lab setup, pipette cleaning, and dispenser operation. The videos were narrated walkthroughs filmed in working lab environments, often with real-time interaction between the trainer and site personnel. The companion file `Test Training Video Index` provides a compact index to the 17 videos with durations and links to the main FloodLAMP webpage, downloadable video archive, Vimeo pages, and YouTube versions. The `Certification Run Assessment v1.1` provided a formal pass/fail checklist for evaluating new operators by reviewing a recorded test run. The assessment covered PPE and safety compliance, contamination control practices and common infractions, documentation, and correct execution of each procedural step from inactivation through app-based tube handling, with an optional module for plate-scale testing. The assessment was designed for self-grading. The expectation was that the trainee would typically go through several iterations on running the test and reviewing the checklist, identifying their own mistakes. Then only when the trainee checked all the boxes in the latest assessment would FloodLAMP personnel review the records. This was set up to be scalable, being self-driven by the trainee and then only require about 30 minutes of FloodLAMP staff time for certification. In practice, only a small number of operators completed the video-based training program. FloodLAMP's pilot sites generally preferred in-person training from experienced FloodLAMP testing staff, and the program saw limited adoption relative to the investment required to produce it. The training content itself, however, documents the full testing workflow in considerable procedural detail and provides a record of how a decentralized molecular test was taught to non-laboratory personnel. These materials connect to the operational guides in the `guides/test-site` subcategory, which cover site setup and deployment logistics, and to the `pilots/pilot-sites` subcategory, which documents the individual pilot programs where the training was (or was not) used. ### Archive Files Not Converted to Markdown `FloodLAMP Rapid Test Training - Storyboard.pdf` `FloodLamp Rapid Test Training - Storyboard.pptx` `QuickColor LAMP Trainee Tracking List SPREADSHEET.xlsx` ## Commentary The video-based training program was overly ambitious for the scale at which we actually deployed FloodLAMP testing programs. For our last deployment at Abrome, our final pilot site, they chose to pay extra to have one of our experienced test technicians fly out to set up the lab and train their people in person rather than rely on the self-guided video curriculum. And this was a school with folks very experienced in educational programs. The handful of operators who did use the videos — notably at the Needham, Massachusetts site — completed the training successfully. But even this case had considerable hand-holding and in-person interaction (FloodLAMP staff set up the Needham lab and helped with the tester training). Beyond the procedures themselves, the video transcripts capture the reasoning behind contamination controls, quality practices, and the practical tips that come from running the test repeatedly — things like why you treat the amplification area as radioactive, how to handle the positive control with one hand, or when to just replace materials rather than trying to track down a contamination source. As a record of how a decentralized, point-of-need molecular test was taught to non-laboratory personnel, including firefighters, this material may have reference value for those interested in designing similar programs. AI completely changes how a program like this would be done today. In addition to or instead of pre-recorded videos and an LMS, a lab testing person would likely be best served by a multi-modal AI assistant that could use audio, display information on a screen, and answer questions in real time. Such a system could adapt to the operator's pace, respond to specific questions as they arise during a run, and scale both training and ongoing operational support without requiring experienced personnel to be physically present at each site. This is one area where the gap between what we built in 2021-2022 and what would be possible today is particularly striking.