A new drug testing device is coming to Belmont County District Court | News, sports, jobs

TL Photos/GAGE VOTA Belmont County Northern Division Court Probation Officer Chad Moore relies on the accuracy of The Thermo Fisher Scientific Indiko Plus clinical analyzer for his paycheck

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – The Belmont County District Court has a new, state-of-the-art drug testing machine.

With the Indiko Plus clinical analyzer from Thermo Fisher Scientific, courts now receive the most accurate drug test results they have ever had. The purchase was made possible by a $100,000 adult probation grant, the Tax Credit Assistance Program. About $22,000 of the $100,000 grant went toward purchasing the machine, startup kits, and training and test room materials.

Chad Moore, a probation officer at Belmont County Northern Division Court, said he would stake his entire salary on the accuracy of every test the new machine runs.

The new device was installed on August 19 and until then the courts used urine cup tests, which were very accurate.

But the updated tests produce results that are believed to be the most accurate available. Moore said if someone on probation tests positive for drugs or alcohol, they have the option to challenge the test for a $42 fee. However, in his experience, perpetrators usually admit to using drugs or alcohol once they realize it's an additional charge.

“At the moment I haven’t had any challenges” Moore said. “I would rather you just come here and admit you screwed up and then we can move on, rather than denying it and contesting the results, because then you have to pay the $42 and the second test is coming up.” back with the same results.”

On Thursday afternoon, Moore and Belmont County Eastern Division Court probation officer Andrea Gatti demonstrated how to use the new machine to several probation officers and Common Pleas Judge John Vavra.

“Every morning I come in, operate the controls on the machine and make sure everything is OK. Every night we put the reagents in the fridge, and when I come in I put them back in here.” Moore said.

The reagents are added to the urine to create the sample that can be used to determine whether the person tested positive for something Moore would test for. He added that the daily morning routine, which involves carrying out checks and checking that all values ​​are correct, takes about 30 minutes.

After Moore briefly explained his daily routine, Gatti began the demonstration on the urine testing toilet. Once Gatti receives the urine, she takes it to the room where the machine is located. Once she's in the room, she gets a small rack that holds several sample tubes.

Then she goes to the computer that uses Paracelsus, a web tool for managing toxicology data that contains all the names of the people who need to be tested. Gatti selects the name of the person's urine she wants to test and prints out a barcode that she places on the sample tube. Scanned, the barcode leads you to the person who will be tested on the Paracelsus site.

“When Andrea comes over, she takes the piss and puts it in the tube. We usually only make it to the first line, so it’s just enough to try.” Moore said.

After completing these steps, the urine sample is placed into the device and the device is locked until the test is completed.

Moore said the machine can test a group of 25 items, although probation officers rarely test all 25 items on every single test.

“If someone is an alcoholic, I test them for alcohol every time. But if someone is working on a script for Suboxone, I won't worry about it every time. I might throw that in every now and then just to make sure they’re on board with their script.” Moore said.

He added that the test takes about 10 minutes and that the probation officer administering the test can immediately receive an email informing them whether the person tested positive or negative for each item tested. He said he prefers to only receive emails notifying him when someone tests positive because if he doesn't receive an email, it means the person has passed the test.