Celebration marks special skills of lab employees

  • Published
  • By Mary H. Allen
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  The Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Medical Group Laboratory celebrated and promoted Laboratory Professionals Week April 24-30 by honoring its staff and offering an inside look into the medical laboratory's mission.

A clinical laboratory is where blood and tissues are studied to obtain information about a patient's health. Cells are what the skilled laboratory staff studies after receiving the patient's blood and tissues.

"After the patient's blood is drawn, the blood is then processed through an automated machine to test the Complete Blood Count, which gives information about the cells in the patient's blood. There is always a check and balance after the machine reads the blood, and the machine is checked at least once a day," said Lt. Col. (Dr.) Maribel Orante Mangilog, chief of Anatomic Pathology at Wright-Patterson Medical Center.

Depending on the reading of the blood, it is then checked by a medical team of pathologists, scientists, technologists, radiologists, technicians and specialists all working together to determine the presence, extent or absence of disease and provide valuable data needed to evaluate the effectiveness to treatment.

"The pathologist examines the cells under a microscope studying the cytologic morphology, looking for early signs of neoplastic processes and other diseases. The pathologist traces the clues to a disease inside the cells looking at the smallest abnormalities in color, shape and size for presence of a disease," said Orante Mangilog.

A pathologist also studies body tissue and fluid under a microscope taken from a biopsy.

"If a doctor is in surgery and needs intraoperative consultation immediately, the tissue is taken to the laboratory where it is frozen and cut very, very thin. The laboratory technician uses dye to stain the sample so the cells will show up when examined with the microscope. The pathologist studies the sample and within minutes can determine the best treatment all while still in surgery," said Orante Mangilog.

Although the laboratory medical teams spend less time with patients, they are just as dedicated to the patient's health. Blood and tissue cells give doctors an understanding of what is going on inside the patient's body, and the medical group laboratory teams find those results.

In its 41st year, the Laboratory Professionals Week celebration was coordinated by a collaborative committee with representatives from 15 national clinical laboratory organizations.