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In This Issue:
Ritsuko Tsaihich works the night shift in the clinical labs.
In contrast to the night sky, bright lights shine inside the Clinical Labs at BWH, where staff working the overnight shift are busy processing about 2,000 specimens a night.
“It goes by fast because we are so busy,” said Lab Control coordinator Henry Tham.
The processing of specimens throughout the Clinical Labs is critical in providing important information to physicians to help them diagnose patients.
“I work here because I like to do the best for the patients and make sure everything is accurate,” said Tham, a dedicated employee who has never once called in sick during his 22 years at BWH.
The specimens come into the lab through Lab Control and then to either the Chemistry or Hematology staff for testing.
New automation in the lab helps staff process specimens faster, spinning about 80 specimens at a time with two automated centrifuges. “We cannot live without the team—all the teams make the hospital work,” said Tham.
Around 2:30 a.m. on a Monday morning, Louis Kilham was using one of the new automated machines for general chemistry testing, such as lung function, kidney function, blood sugars and thyroid.
“We review the results and, if something is unusual like an extremely high or low glucose level, we would repeat the test to make sure it is accurate,” he said.
His colleague performed routine maintenance, running quality control to ensure the machines were generating accurate results. “We want to ensure that the results we give clinicians are accurate,” Kilham said.
In Hematology, Derek Archila and his team ran complete blood count (CBC) and coagulation tests to help physicians diagnose diseases of the blood, such as leukemia and other types of cancers. “We do routine hematology testing during the night shift,” he said. “It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to get results for stat specimens this time of the night.”
Around 4 a.m., all areas of the lab become especially busy as morning draws come in from Phlebotomy. “Between 4 and 6 a.m. is one of the busiest times in the lab, and we start processing those tests,” said Archila, who works weekend nights.
His weekend schedule enables him to attend business school at Northeastern University during the week. He enjoys his nights in the lab. “I get to see really interesting cases,” he said.