1.94/ kg LL A A . NEXT WEEK! Watch for yeti WEDNESDAY, May 27, 1992 SNOW ICE CREAM Assorted Flavours. 4 Litre Pail FRESH PEACHE California Grown. 1.52/kg 7-UP, PEPSI or SCHWEPPES 2 Litre Ass't varieties. Plus deposit. 1° CHICKEN BREAST Fresh. Back Attached. Approx. 5 |b bag. 4.37 /kg MAY, 1992 WED | THURS] FRI | SAT 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 2 Advertised prices in effect until closing on Satday, May 30, 1992 at your Castlegar " Sateway store only Quantity rights reserved BATHROOM TISSUE Royalle. Pkg. of 12 Rolls 3/ ROASTING CHICKENS Fresh. Grade A or Utility 2.82/ kg While hi-tech equipment is a necessity in every hospital lab, so is the knowledge of chemistry, which comes through years of education and experience. Bonnie Essaunce, a registered technologist for 12 years, does testing for sugar content in a urine sample. When thoughts turn to the health care community the common images of doc- tors and nurses quickly come to mind. And why not? The nurse is probably the most visible health care professional in any hospital, and doctors, much of the time, are the first to put us where we can see nurses, There is one location in every hospi- tal, however, where the unsung heroes of health care work diligently and force- fully in determining illnesses—these are main function of the lab is to Where KALTH CARE SCIENCE meet Story and photos by Sharlene Imhoff Another test results for both out- and in-patients, a crucial step in confirming a diagnosis. “A patient might see a doctor and sa‘ ‘I'm tired all the time’, well the lab enables the doctor to ine exactly at the hospital lab is the Baker 9000, a hematology anal- yser—meaning it iali in blood what is causing the tiredness,” Maria continued. More than 50 different tests can be completed in the bacteria, chemistry, hematology and ECG departments of the hospital lab. Each department has ing il! the Registered Te logists, who work in the hospital lab. The laboratory is the one place where the working partnership between health care and science is readily displayed. With updated equipment and updated people, who love and take pride in the job they are doing, it is not the institu- tionalized, stainless steel home of impersonal white jackets. The lab in the Castlegar hospital is brightly lit, colourful posters cover its walls, and it has a cheery Pp which allows for safer handling of specimens, and quick- er and more accurate results of tests. “We have computer analyses now that allow for certain tests to be completed in less than 30 seconds, where at one time they took more than on hour to com- plete. The technology is amazing.” The technology she refers to are machines such as the Kodak 700 Anal- yser, which does all the lab’s dry chem- istry testing—a relatively new process established by the smiling faces who joke about being referred to as vampires Or mosquitos. “When people come into the hospital lab, we do our best to make sure they are comfortable,” said Technologist Maria Klement. “It’s very important, especially. when working with young children, we don’t want to i in many h “Because the machine tests dry chemistry, a large portion of by-product waste has been decreased. The comput- er works fast, is reliable and doesn’t Purchased two years ago for the lab, the price tag on this piece of hardware was $150,000. Kodak, the company anyone.” In total, the lab employs seven peo- ple; three full time, three casual and one part time position. Shift work is the norm, consisting of eight-hour days fol- lowed by turns on-call by pager. The which designed and produced this hine, recycles the idges which hold the slide samples for testing. “We try and recycle as much as pos- sible in the lab—but due to the bio-haz- ard nature of the materials we handle, muuch still has to be destroyed.” oT breakdown = and blood counts. The machine, which cost the hospital board $35,000 to bring to Castlegar, allows technologists to test blood without per- sonally handling it. “Everyone in the lab wears gloves, even when handling the machines. It's a safe- ty precaution we must all take part in because you never know when their might bé a spill. Not only that, every specimen is treated as if it was infected,” Klement c High-tech Extracting blood from both inpatients and outpatients is an everyday occurance machines such as at the lab, however each patient, no matter how experienced at giving a sample, these allow for the Is made to feel comfortable and relaxed. Registered technologist Maria Klement, safer handling of displays the technique on her collegue Bonnie Essaunce. blood and other tis- sue testing, and are now a necessity in any hospital lab. Because the need for these h is icted to i and other health-care facilities, the cost Tuns extremely high. Most equipment has a lifespan of seven years. “There is such a limited market on these items that the price is driven right up,” explained Klement. When the lab requires new equip- ment, purchasing is investigated by the local hospital board, if the needed item is under $100,000. However, it the item surpasses this amount, the provincial government intervenes and pays for 60 per cent, while the Regional District of Central Kootenay pay for the remaining 40 per cent. Another focal point of the Castlegar 50 people in the community who are able to be called in case of an emergen- cy. “This shows a lot of community car- ing on the part of these volunteer donors,” said Klement. Each volunteer donor is tested regu- larly every six months, for HIV, hepati- tis, or other communicable diseases. intaining an adequate blood supply is crucial, and this is only possible when people throughout the province care enough to give their blood. “Local resi- many samples contain only initials to . j security. “Basically it's an easy rule; anything that is discovered in the lab, stays in this lab,” Klement continued. The lab also contains an ECG room, which monitors a patient's heart. With all the equipment in various depart- ments and the blood bank, one might get the impression that this lab is a large place. Not so. In fact, officials say that more space is needed and they might have found a way to accomplish this. dents should attend, possible, these blood donor clinics and give back to the Red Cross what they so generous- ly provide to this hospital.” The Castlegar hospital lab is connect- ed to the Central Kootenay Health Unit and the Provincial Lab in Vancouver. lab is the blood banking dep What resembles a small refrigerator is packed full of all types of bagged blood, Both of these require, by law, informa- tion the Castlegar lab might pick up i i or envi- as well as various comp of such as red cells, albumin (protein), and plasma. While all the blood is supplied by the Vancouver Red Cross, the Castlegar lab has a personal donor list of more thah any ronmental diseases. “If we come across a test which shows that a person has, say hepatitis, we can be charged if it is not Anonymity is still required, and ‘R ly the hospital became a smoke- free facility, so next door to us is a smoking-room no longer in use. We're hoping to utilize this as additional space for our lab.” Klement and other lab technologists are hoping to disperse the thought that the place in which they work is an “We want local residents to feel free in asking us questions about our lab, it’s a great place to work and an interesting place to visit.” Ib | Registered Technologist Linda Hoodikoff, who has been work- Wendy MacAulay, a registered technologist at the Castlegar hospital lab for six years, tests dry ing at the Castlegar hospital lab for four years, uses a micro- chemistry samples on the Kodak 700 Analyser, a computer which was purchased for the lab two scope to examine a smear. years ago, for approximately $150,000.