Chicago uses new on-site testing equipment during recent anthrax scare 

Local area company supplies equipment to Chicago fire authorities to combat bioterrorist threats...

December 7, 2000 - When a letter containing a suspicious brown powder and an anthrax bacterial threat was received recently in a North Michigan Avenue office building, local authorities took immediate action.  The Hazardous Material Division of the Chicago Fire Department was able to provide immediate screening test results indicating the threat was a probable hoax. As part of an ongoing test evaluation program, the Chicago Fire Department has the equipment on loan from a Chicago-area company, Alexeter Technologies, LLC (Wheeling, IL). The Guardian BIO-THREAT-ALERT  System was developed privately in a joint effort  between Tetracore, Inc. (Gaithersburg, MD) and Alexeter Technologies. The system includes Tetracore's proprietary BTA< disposable test cartridges and Alexeter's Guardian BIO-THREAT-ALERT test analyzer. It is the first system designed to give local emergency teams the ability to confidently test for the presence of dangerous biological substances in the environment. Typically, local authorities must wait 24 to 48 hours for laboratory test results to be returned before determining whether an event was a hoax or an actual biological threat.  With on-site screening equipment, however, local officials are saving valuable resources by immediately moderating the level of response or providing prompt treatment to possible victims. Alexeter Technologies supplies biological agent screening test equipment and 24-hour emergency technical support to hazardous material technicians and law enforcement officials across the country.  For or additional information, contact Dr. James P. Whelan, General Manager of Alexeter Technologies, LLC, by phone at (847) 419-1507 or by email at jwhelan@alexeter.com