Invented by Doctors
Sarah Davis, M.D., founder of SAFER Diagnostics™, is a doctor and an entrepreneur. She is an ABMS certified family medicine physician who has been practicing for over two decades.
Dr. Davis is a lifelong innovator in care and treatment, introducing the very first concierge medical practice in North Texas.
When Dr. Davis’ own daughter contracted COVID-19 as a summer camp counselor, Dr. Davis noticed a decreased sense of smell that with objective testing was much worse than she even realized. She then performed a community COVID-19 study, leading to the invention of the SAFER Card™ and SAFER Campus™ system.
The SAFER Card™ system is designed for daily use in businesses, campuses, and anywhere people come together.
What is The SAFER Card™?
SAFER’s anosmia/hyposmia (loss or diminished sense of smell) screen is one of the fastest, most practical tools to help businesses, organizations, and campuses identify who should be further tested for COVID-19.
Diminished scent capacity often goes unnoticed by infected individuals, and it is an early symptom when individuals are highly contagious.
Key SAFER Observations*
The majority of people with COVID-19 have diminished (hyposmia) or no (anosmia) sense of smell.
Anosmia/hyposmia frequently occurs very early in the course of the disease, when a person is most contagious.
Individuals with diminished scent capacity frequently do not notice this symptom until they are screened.
Sudden acute hyposmia is highly unusual outside of COVID-19, so it is a strong warning sign.
Diminished scent can be objectively detected.
SAFER's data shows that detection of anosmia/hyposmia (loss or diminished sense of smell) is one of the most effective low-cost screens to know when to test for COVID-19.
How it works
- The SAFER card system works with any mobile phone.
- Simply use the phone’s Camera application and point it at the QR code on the SAFER card. The system will provide simple step-by-step instructions.
- A SAFER screen takes only about 20 seconds.
SAFER Campus™ System
SAFER’s advanced campus solution enables you to screen your members one time each day for the entire day.
When a subject passes the SAFER screen, our system gives them a mobile day pass on their phone for use anywhere on campus. No app is needed – our technology makes it automatic.
Contact us for more information on our SAFER Campus System.
The Science
- COVID-19 is more strongly associated with loss of smell than with fever, cough, or shortness of breath.
- Half of COVID-19 patients report hyposmia, but actively screening leads to a much higher rate of up to 80%.
- COVID-19 patients are 27 times more likely to lose their sense of smell.
- “Loss of taste or smell should be something that should be incorporated along with a fever screening and other symptoms.” - Dr. Amesh Adalja, Johns Hopkins University Senior Scholar
- “My impression is that anosmia is an earlier symptom of Covid-19 relative to fever, and some infected people can have anosmia and nothing else. So it’s potentially a more sensitive screen for asymptomatic patients.” – Dr. Andrew Badley, Mayo Clinic virus lab director
- Anosmia is an earlier symptom of COVID-19 relative to fever.
SAFER can be used off-the-shelf, or for larger institutions it can be custom integrated into an existing mitigation practice.
Features & Benefits
- Fast: results in as little as 20 seconds
- Conserves resources by focusing testing on priority individuals
- Can dramatically lower the cost of mitigation
- Cost-effective enough to enable daily screens
- Focused on early onset symptom: anosmia/ hyposmia
- Does not rely on self- screening
- Focused on highest period of infectious spread
- Potential to identify hot spots
- Anonymous, no PII* collected
- Campus solution creates a Day Pass for each person
* PII, or Personally Identifiable Information, is collected data that is subject to the HIPAA Privacy Rule. SAFER does not collect any PII when a subject fails the screen.
