YOKOSUKA, Japan – Staffmembers recently gathered in the U.S. Naval Hospital (USNH) Yokosuka Laboratory Department to commemorate Medical Laboratory Professionals Week (MLPW), April 25.
Designated for the week of April 23-29, MLPW provides the profession with a unique opportunity to increase public understanding of and appreciation for clinical laboratory personnel.
Commander, USNH Yokosuka, Capt. Rosemary C. Malone provided opening remarks, followed by a laboratory exhibition presentation by Laboratory Department Head, Lt. Cmdr. Trevor Kuttler.
“Lab Week is first and foremost a chance to let others, both hospital staff and patients, know a little more about what it is that we do,” said USNH Yokosuka Laboratory Dept. Head, Lt. Cmdr. Trevor Kuttler. “It is both a chance to educate our peers and customers as well as an opportunity to promote our field. We love our jobs and want to share. Nothing would make me happier than having a student pass through our lab during lab week and think to themselves that this could be a job that they consider in the future.”
Despite being in Japan, USNH Yokosuka’s Laboratory conducts day-to-day operations according to the same standards as those performed in the United States. Staff members consist of Servicemembers, Department of Defense (DOD) civilian employees and also Japanese Master Labor Contractors (MLC).
USNH Yokosuka Laboratory regularly interacts with host nation medical facilities by performing inspections on behalf of the College of American Pathology (CAP) to ensure that Japanese hospitals maintain medical standards equivalent to those required for laboratories in the United States.
Japanese facilities, in turn, assist USNH Yokosuka in ways such as the processing of emergency specimens that require advanced testing that USNH Yokosuka may not be able to conduct.
“Being stationed here in Yokosuka base, we have a unique situation in which we work closely alongside our Japanese counterparts,” said Kuttler. “The relationship is a two-fold function due to the fact that we support each other’s endeavors in some form or fashion.”
MLPW is coordinated by a collaborative committee with representatives from 16 national clinical laboratory organizations, including American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS).
Medical Laboratory Professionals Week originated in 1975 as National Medical Laboratory Week, or NMLW, under the auspices of the American Society for Medical Technology, now called ASCLS. In subsequent years, other organizations have served as cosponsors and campaign supporters.
MLPW carries its own special meaning for those working at USNH Yokosuka.
“It’s something that celebrates lab techs and what we all do,” said Hospitalman Qunicy Godina. “I think most of the time since we work behind the scenes, what we do is not in view, but even still, it is pertinent in someone’s life. What we do in the lab can determine life or death.”
Operating 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, USNH Yokosuka laboratory is divided into various teams which are called ‘benches’ (named after the laboratory benches upon which each teams equipment can be found). These include chemistry, hematology and coagulation, blood bank, microbiology, urine, front desk/phlebotomy, histology, cytology, mail outs, point of care testing, supply and equipment, specimen receiving, and quality assurance.
Every step of specimen processing is divided into three phases: pre-analytic, analytic, and post-analytic.
A typical patients’ experience may consist of them coming to the lab after their physician orders a test. This is where the laboratory technicians’ job proves to be one of the most vital components to the hospitals ability to provide proper patient care.
“The best part about my job is helping patients in our own unique way as Laboratory professionals,” said Godina. “Looking under the microscope opens your eyes to a different world and it also gives you a more intimate look at the patient. You can see the patient in ways that no one else can.”
| Date Taken: |
05.03.2017 |
| Date Posted: |
05.08.2017 03:10 |
| Story ID: |
232972 |
| Location: |
YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JP |
| Web Views: |
204 |
| Downloads: |
0 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
This work, Medical Laboratory Professionals Week honored at USNH Yokosuka, by Gregory Mitchell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
