diff --git a/nlds/rabbit/consumer.py b/nlds/rabbit/consumer.py
index e0d91c9d..f5efe8f2 100644
--- a/nlds/rabbit/consumer.py
+++ b/nlds/rabbit/consumer.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 from json.decoder import JSONDecodeError
 from urllib3.exceptions import HTTPError
 import signal
+import threading as thr
 
 from pika.exceptions import StreamLostError, AMQPConnectionError
 from pika.channel import Channel
@@ -207,6 +208,9 @@ def __init__(self, queue: str = None, setup_logging_fl=False):
         # caught in the callback. 
         self.print_tracebacks_fl = True
 
+        # List of active threads created by consumption process
+        self.threads = []
+
         # Set up the logging and pass through constructor parameter
         self.setup_logging(enable=setup_logging_fl)
 
@@ -675,9 +679,16 @@ def _wrapped_callback(self, ch: Channel, method: Method, properties: Header,
         This should be performed on all consumers and should be left untouched 
         in child implementations.
         """
+        ack_fl = None 
+        # Begin the 
+        self.keepalive.start_polling()
+
+        # Get and log thread info
+        thread_id = thr.get_ident()
+        self.log(f"Callback started in thread {thread_id}", self.RK_LOG_INFO)
+
         # Wrap callback with a try-except catching a selection of common 
         # errors which can be caught without stopping consumption.
-        ack_fl = None 
         try:
             ack_fl = self.callback(ch, method, properties, body, connection)
         except self.EXPECTED_EXCEPTIONS as original_error:
@@ -702,6 +713,33 @@ def _wrapped_callback(self, ch: Channel, method: Method, properties: Header,
                 self.nack_message(ch, method.delivery_tag, connection)
             else:
                 self.acknowledge_message(ch, method.delivery_tag, connection)
+        
+        # Clear the consuming event so the keepalive stops polling the connection
+        self.keepalive.stop_polling()
+
+
+    def _start_callback_threaded(
+            self, 
+            ch: Channel, 
+            method: Method, 
+            properties: Header, 
+            body: bytes, 
+            connection: Connection
+        ) -> None:
+        """Consumption method which starts the _wrapped_callback() in a new 
+        thread so the connection can be kept alive in the main thread. Allows 
+        for both long-running tasks and multithreading, though in the case of 
+        the latter this may not be as efficient as just scaling out to another 
+        consumer. 
+
+        TODO: (2024-02-08) This currently doesn't work but I'll leave it here in 
+        case we return to it further down the line. 
+        """
+        t = thr.Thread(target=self._wrapped_callback, args=(ch, method, 
+                                                            properties, 
+                                                            body, connection))
+        t.start()
+        self.threads.append()
 
             
     def declare_bindings(self) -> None:
@@ -798,3 +836,10 @@ def run(self):
 
         self.channel.stop_consuming()
 
+        # Wait for all threads to complete
+        # TODO: what happens if we try to sigterm?
+        for t in self.threads:
+            t.join()
+        
+        self.connection.close()
+
diff --git a/nlds/rabbit/keepalive.py b/nlds/rabbit/keepalive.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..954f3e2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nlds/rabbit/keepalive.py
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+from uuid import uuid4
+import threading as thr
+from typing import List
+import time
+
+from pika.connection import Connection
+
+class KeepaliveDaemon():
+    """Class for orchestrating a connection keepalive daemon thread."""
+
+    def __init__(self, connection: Connection, heartbeat: int):
+        self.name = uuid4()
+        self.heartbeat = heartbeat
+        self.connection = connection
+        self.poll_event = thr.Event()
+        self.kill_event = thr.Event()
+        self.keepalive = None
+        
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_thread_names() -> List[str]:
+        return list(thr.name for thr in thr.enumerate())
+    
+    def start_polling(self):
+        self.poll_event.set()
+
+    def stop_polling(self):
+        self.poll_event.clear()
+    
+    def start(self) -> None:
+        # Create a keepalive daemon thread named after the uuid of this object
+        if self.name not in self.get_thread_names():
+            # Start a deamon thread which processes data events in the 
+            # background
+            self.poll_event.clear()
+            self.kill_event.clear()
+            self.keepalive = thr.Thread(
+                name=self.name, target=self.run,
+                # args=(self.connection, self.heartbeat, 
+                #       self.poll_event, self.kill_event), 
+                daemon=True,
+            )
+            self.keepalive.start()
+
+    def kill(self):
+        if self.name in self.get_thread_names():
+            self.kill_event.set()
+            # self.keepalive.join()
+
+    def run(self):
+        """Simple infinite loop which keeps the connection alive by calling 
+        process_data_events() during consumption. This is intended to be run in 
+        the background as a daemon thread, can be exited immediately at main 
+        thread exit. Needs to be passed the active connection object and the 
+        required heartbeats.
+        """
+        # While we have an open connection continue the process 
+        while self.connection.is_open and not self.kill_event.is_set():
+            print(f"{self.name}: {self.get_thread_names()}, {self.poll_event.is_set()}")
+            # If we're actively consuming and the connection is blocked, then 
+            # periodically call process_data_events to keep the connection open.
+            if self.poll_event.is_set():
+                self.connection.process_data_events()
+            time.sleep(max(self.heartbeat/2, 1))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/nlds/rabbit/publisher.py b/nlds/rabbit/publisher.py
index 1a22976e..b6e09f3b 100644
--- a/nlds/rabbit/publisher.py
+++ b/nlds/rabbit/publisher.py
@@ -16,8 +16,11 @@
 from typing import Dict, List, Any
 import pathlib
 from collections.abc import Sequence
+import threading as thr
+import time
 
 import pika
+from pika.connection import Connection
 from pika.exceptions import AMQPConnectionError, UnroutableError, ChannelWrongStateError
 from retry import retry
 
@@ -35,6 +38,7 @@
     LOGGING_CONFIG_ENABLE,
     LOGGING_CONFIG_BACKUP_COUNT,
 )
+from .keepalive import KeepaliveDaemon
 from ..errors import RabbitRetryError
 
 logger = logging.getLogger("nlds.root")
@@ -195,6 +199,9 @@ def __init__(self, name="publisher", setup_logging_fl=False):
       
         self.connection = None
         self.channel = None
+        self.heartbeat = self.config.get("heartbeat") or 300
+        self.keepalive = None
+
         try:
             # Do some basic verification of the general retry delays. 
             self.retry_delays = self.general_config[self.RETRY_DELAYS]
@@ -208,6 +215,7 @@ def __init__(self, name="publisher", setup_logging_fl=False):
         if setup_logging_fl:
             self.setup_logging()
     
+
     @retry(
         RabbitRetryError, 
         tries=-1, 
@@ -222,7 +230,11 @@ def get_connection(self):
                 # Get the username and password for rabbit
                 rabbit_user = self.config["user"]
                 rabbit_password = self.config["password"]
-                connection_heartbeat = self.config.get("heartbeat") or 300
+
+                # Kill any daemon threads before we make a new one for the new 
+                # connection
+                if self.keepalive:
+                    self.keepalive.kill()
 
                 # Start the rabbitMQ connection
                 connection = pika.BlockingConnection(
@@ -231,9 +243,11 @@ def get_connection(self):
                         credentials=pika.PlainCredentials(rabbit_user, 
                                                           rabbit_password),
                         virtual_host=self.config["vhost"],
-                        heartbeat=connection_heartbeat,
+                        heartbeat=self.heartbeat,
                     )
                 )
+                self.keepalive = KeepaliveDaemon(connection, self.heartbeat)
+                self.keepalive.start()
 
                 # Create a new channel with basic qos
                 channel = connection.channel()
@@ -252,6 +266,7 @@ def get_connection(self):
             logger.debug(f"{type(e).__name__}: {e}")
             raise RabbitRetryError(str(e), ampq_exception=e)
 
+
     def declare_bindings(self) -> None:
         """Go through list of exchanges from config file and declare each. Will 
         also declare delayed exchanges for use in scheduled messaging if the 
@@ -359,6 +374,7 @@ def publish_message(self,
             # the message will never be sent. 
             # raise RabbitRetryError(str(e), ampq_exception=e)
 
+
     def get_retry_delay(self, retries: int):
         """Simple convenience function for getting the delay (in seconds) for an 
         indexlist with a given number of retries. Works off of the member 
@@ -369,9 +385,11 @@ def get_retry_delay(self, retries: int):
         retries = min(retries, len(self.retry_delays) - 1)
         return int(self.retry_delays[retries])
 
+
     def close_connection(self) -> None:
         self.connection.close()
 
+
     _default_logging_conf = {
         LOGGING_CONFIG_ENABLE: True,
         LOGGING_CONFIG_LEVEL: RK_LOG_INFO,
@@ -543,6 +561,7 @@ def setup_logging(
                         logger.warning(f"Failed to create log file for "
                                        f"{log_file}: {str(e)}")
 
+
     def _log(self, log_message: str, log_level: str, target: str, 
             **kwargs) -> None:
         """
@@ -581,6 +600,7 @@ def _log(self, log_message: str, log_level: str, target: str,
         message = self.create_log_message(log_message, target)
         self.publish_message(routing_key, message)
     
+    
     def log(self, log_message: str, log_level: str, target: str = None, 
             **kwargs) -> None:
         # Attempt to log to publisher's name
@@ -588,6 +608,7 @@ def log(self, log_message: str, log_level: str, target: str = None,
             target = self.name
         self._log(log_message, log_level, target, **kwargs)
 
+
     @classmethod
     def create_log_message(cls, message: str, target: str, 
                            route: str = None) -> Dict[str, Any]:
diff --git a/nlds_processors/transferers/put_transfer.py b/nlds_processors/transferers/put_transfer.py
index 4d8eb68e..708ec471 100644
--- a/nlds_processors/transferers/put_transfer.py
+++ b/nlds_processors/transferers/put_transfer.py
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ def transfer(self, transaction_id: str, tenancy: str, access_key: str,
             # TODO: This begs the question of whether we need to store the 
             # object-name at all
             path_details.object_name = path_details.original_path
-            try:
+            try:   
                 result = client.fput_object(
                     bucket_name, 
                     path_details.object_name,