William Adams, prevention program director for Chattanooga CARES, discusses the organization’s new mobile testing van on Feb. 11, 2015, in Chattanooga.HIV testing in the Chattanooga area will soon be hitting the roads.
Starting this week, staff members with Chattanooga CARES, an HIV prevention and support organization, will start traveling the region providing free testing for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, through a new specially equipped van called a “mobile testing unit.”
“We’re excited because this will allow us to reach people we have not reached before,” said Chattanooga CARES prevention education director William Adams as he showed off the vehicle on Wednesday.
The van, which came from a grant that was funded by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, is equipped with two testing rooms where people can receive a quick pinprick or mouth swab, and a bathroom where people can provide a urine sample.
Test results are typically available within 20 minutes, Adams said. And they are rarely positive. For most people, the testing can provide relief, but more importantly, it’s a chance for prevention experts to educate those being tested on safe behaviors.