Blood test Have you ever wondered where the medical technician team takes our blood after we have drawn blood?
From the previous episode, everyone must have seen the work of all personnel, whether in front of or behind the scenes. Each duty is a duty that we can guess that someone must definitely do this, whether it is packing vaccines, injecting vaccines, registering, being responsible for cleanliness, or many other admirable duties, which the admin presented in the previous episode.
In this episode, the admin will take everyone to get to know and understand the work of the medical technology operation team at Thammasat University Hospital through an interview with Dr. Narumon Serikhajorncharoen, Head of the Point-of-Care Diagnostic Instrument Management Unit (POCT), in which the doctor will come to tell us about the work that we cannot see and the dedication that wants to be the most helpful in this crisis.
Blood sampling officer?
Most people see the work of the medical technician team as the ones who draw blood because the personnel in the team have the front-line job of drawing blood that everyone can see.
Where do I go after getting my blood drawn?
The job of the medical technology team is to answer this question. After drawing blood, it must be taken for diagnosis in various fields, whether it is a diagnosis of blood, chemistry, hormones, microscopy, and molecules, to get the most accurate results. Whether the blood received has any interference or abnormalities or not. After diagnosis, the results will be sent back to the blood test point to send the results to the doctors responsible for each field again.
“No matter where you check, at which hospital, you will get consistent results because it is the same standard.”
Most of the duties of medical technicians are in the lab, which is in a limited area. But in this area, everything is based on the standard operating procedures of medical technicians, which are the main standards that every hospital must follow.
“Focus on accuracy, precision and speed”
The work of the medical technology team does not only involve blood sampling, testing and diagnosis, but also urine and feces. However, blood is the one that gives the fastest results and is highly accurate because blood is something that must circulate throughout the body. If there is an abnormality in most parts of the body, it will be immediately shown in the blood.
Before COVID-19
The medical technology operation team here was originally a medical school before the COVID-19 crisis. There will be an increase in the number of beds, expansion of the premises, and improvement of the premises to accommodate the increasing number of personnel and patients every year.
Adapting to the COVID-19 crisis
“Because we have good management and quality people, everything is easy.”
When faced with the COVID-19 crisis, the most difficult challenge for the medical technology operation team was the rapidly increasing amount of work. Everything had to be ready in a short time. The work rate of each staff member had to increase. Some had to work longer hours, some had more duties because the main duty of the medical technology operation team was to test for COVID-19. Fortunately, all of the staff here are capable of working together, making the work proceed efficiently, even though there was only a short time to prepare.
Before each blood test
Of course, not everyone who wants to have a blood test can do so. Because every time a patient comes in for a blood test, they must first receive an appropriate diagnosis from the doctor, whether or not they should be tested. The diagnosis will be based on the underlying disease and symptoms. For example, if the patient is pale, they must have a blood test and send it to the hematology department. Or if the patient has an underlying disease such as cancer, the blood test results will be sent to the hormone department, etc.
Recommendations before having a blood test
“For accuracy and correctness, patients must cooperate in reducing factors that may affect blood flow.”
Since blood circulates throughout the body, if there is anything unusual, it can be known immediately. On the other hand, blood test results can also be distorted by abnormalities. For example, when testing blood sugar, it is recommended to fast before the test because if you eat, it will cause your blood sugar level to be inaccurate. And blood tests are only basic tests. Sometimes, patients must be asked to collect urine, feces, or sputum to find the most accurate results.
Blood test
“I’m worried about the patient. I don’t want the patient to be in a lot of pain.”
Sometimes when arriving at the blood sampling point, patients will feel stressed, excited or anxious. The responsible personnel must know how to talk to help patients relax. During blood sampling, there will be a vein scanner to help personnel draw blood accurately. If there is an emergency that cannot draw blood from the patient within 2 attempts, stop and call the team leader to help immediately. Because when drawing blood, patients will definitely feel pain from the needle being inserted each time. The medical technology team does not want patients to feel pain unnecessarily. And drawing blood from each patient must not take more than 3 minutes for the convenience and speed of the patient’s blood test.
The “lab” that never sleeps
With the current situation where the number of infected people is increasing every day, the medical technology team has to work even harder. For example, during this period, there are more than 8,000 lab tests per month for Thammasat University Hospital, and the lab works 24 hours a day, with no closing time. They have to take turns working and resting. In addition, all personnel have to further develop their knowledge in many fields to send people to help in various departments.
“I feel proud of my profession, that my work is important and helps many parties.”
The COVID-19 crisis has made me feel very proud of everyone in the profession and the medical technology team because everyone must be proactive, work as a team, learn more, and practice more all the time. In the past, everyone only learned from new theories about new diseases that may occur or diseases related to virology. But now it’s a real situation, which is a new experience that we must face and solve as quickly as possible, within the shortest possible time.
Conclusion
Even though some duties may be invisible to us, it does not mean that they do not exist. The Medical Technology Operations Team is one of the teams of personnel working hard to help everyone survive this COVID-19 crisis together.
From this interview, it can be seen that the staff always prioritize patients. Everyone is willing to work hard and lose sleep for every patient. Therefore, what we can do is to cooperate with medical personnel to provide various services and encourage all personnel so that we can survive this COVID-19 crisis together.
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Follow the story behind the crisis and the actions of medical personnel at Thammasat University Hospital in dealing with the COVID situation in the program Unmask Story, stories behind the masks of medical personnel at Thammasat University Hospital.
Or choose to listen to more information in Podcast format:
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