Production Reopening to Support “Essential” Customers

Dear Valued Customers,

I hope this finds you all safe and healthy.  We have entered a time that I could not have imagined in my lifetime…and yet, here we are.

Tuesday, March 24th, we felt compelled to close our plant based on our Washington State Governor Inslee’s fourteen-day mandate to “Stay Home and Stay Safe”.  Since then, we have received statements from many of you declaring that your businesses are “…essential businesses for the healthcare of the Nation”. Therefore, as a supplier, we are in turn “defined to be part of the critical infrastructure”.  We have reached out to the Washington State Department of Commerce to get a determination if we are considered “essential”. They referred us to their site outlining the definition of essential businesses.  We meet the criteria for manufacturing supplies and subcomponents for the medical industry.

We will be starting up production on Monday, March 30th with a small crew to meet the demand of those customers who have sent us statements.  If you have not yet sent a statement to us regarding your designation as an “essential business”, you can reach out to our customer service department at info@pacific-research.com.

We will be adjusting our crew size and schedule as needed and as we receive additional statements.  We will continue to follow the guidelines for those companies deemed as essential businesses.  Our employees who are currently working from home will continue to do so, and we will remain diligent with our practice of social distancing, hand washing, and sanitizing of all work areas and common areas in the plant.

We appreciate your continued faith in us as your supplier and wish to express our gratitude in continuing to work with you during this challenging time.  As I have shared before, the health and safety or our employees, their families, and our community is foremost, and we will continue to practice safety and care as we navigate these uncharted waters.

Sincerely,

Norine Martinsen

Norine Martinsen

Chief Executive Officer

Pacific Research Laboratories, Inc./Sawbones

Norine Martinsen CEO

Seaglider Makes Year Long Trek Under the Ice

Over the last year, a team of autonomous ocean robots has successfully traveled under an ice sheet and returned to report long-term observations, the University of Washington (UW) has announced.

A partnership between a number of entities including the University of Washington’s College of the Environment, the UW Applied Physics Laboratory, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, the Korean Polar Research Institute and Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the robotic mission has traveled under the ice shelf 18 times, and has routinely reached more than 25 miles into the cavity.

“This is the first time any of the modern, long-endurance platforms have made sustained measurements under an ice shelf,”says Craig Lee, a UW professor of oceanography and member of the Applied Physics Laboratory.

Read the full article on The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) website!

Sawbones’ Latest Simulator Makes the Grade

A recent study on the validity of Sawbones’ latest simulator, FioNATM , published in the Journal of Diagnostic Cytopathology concludes: “A realistic simulation model, in combination with a standardized training program with formal assessment methods is a valuable tool to teach FNA. We here describe a process for teaching the FNA procedure to interested educators and learners.”

Read the full article.