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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24,1987, FýAÇvE 27 À: WHITBY ý tt-- GENERAL By BRIAN WINTER Located on the ground floor next to the emergency department is one of the most important depar- tments in Whitby General Hospital - the medical laboratory. Here the medical lab technologists - the hospital's detec- tives - use sophisticated machinery and numerous chemicals to find out what the body is trying to tell doc- tors. If sick, the body can often tell the doctor what is wvrong, through changes in blood, enzymes, tissue, cells and other components. Under the supervision of chief medical laboratory technologist, James Crumb, who came to. the Whitby General from a hospital in Geraldton in northern Ontario in November 1986, the medical lab has five departments. Haematology is the study of blood cell structure, shape, size and number which can detect leukemia, infrections and cell abnormalities. The blood . bank supplies suf- ficient blood resources for surgery, accident victims and other situations where blood is required. Histology is the study of biopsy tissue to determine if tumors are maligant or benign or if there is ab- normal tissue in your body. Bacteriology involves growing cultures of bacteria that the doctor wants to eliminate from your body and testing them to see which an- tibiotic will destroy them. The fifth department, chemistry, analyses chemicals in the blood such as sodium, potassium and glucose. Sodium and potassium can tell the doctor if the kidneys are working; glucose tells if one is diabetic, and proteins (enzymes) can determine if someone has had a heart attack and how much damage has been done. They also tell if the liver is working. The medical lab has seven full- time staff, one for each of the above departments, the chief technologist and a pathologist. A number of part-time people are on duty on weekends and nights, and there is one phlebotomist~who takes blood samples. She may be the first per- son who will visit a partient once admitted. All blood, which comes once a day frorn the Canadian Red Cross JAMES CRUMB in downtown Toronto, is tested for AIDS, hepatitis and venereal diseases, and will last in storage for 35 days. Twenty-six units of blood are in stock at any given time, says James. Whenever there is to be a major operation performed at the Whitby General Hospital, a lot of precautionary cross-matching of blood is done so that it will be ready if needed. Cross-matching ensures that the blood of the donor and the recipient are compatible. There are not too many medical emergencies where blood is needed, says James. It is often needed more urgently for automobile accidents. The lab at Whitby General Hospital is equipped with much sophisticated computerized equip- ment such as a cell counte, a coagulation measurer, and an automated stat routine analyser which measures glucose, urea, sodium, potassium and chloride. This last machine is driven by a computer which prints out the levels of chemicals tested. A small robot arm picks up the samples and takes from them the amount of chemical needed to make a test. When tissue is being cut for Inside the medical lab The Town of Whitby is coricerneci with delays in reporting the costs of change orders for the expansion at Iroquois Park. "The prices are not coming back as fast as we would like," says Larry Morrow, director of parks and recreation. Change orders are usually minor alterations or changes in a project. To date, 56 change orders have been issued with 20 being approved. Those 20 havé costs $102,131. The expansion of recreation facilities was tendered at a cost of $3.6 million but with engineering tees and contingencies, the budget is $4.2 million. Slow change orders make it hard for the recreation department to put an exact figure on work at Iroquois, says Morrow. He says he is working with the general contractor to speed up the process. He also says staff have been in- formed the new arena may be ready by July or August. However, he told members of the operations committee last week, his department is looking at a Sept. 1 opening. Warriors continue streak FROM PAGE 20 lacrosse action with 'victories last week. At home the Warriors thrashed the Etobicoke Eclipse 17-4 last Wednesday night. The Warriors left the floor after the first period with a 6-2 lead and never looked back. By the end of the second they had increased their lead to13-2. Bill Callan lead al scorers for the Warriors with three goals and six assists on the night. Greg VanScikle and Scott Boyd had four-goal performances. Bil Passfield had two goals while singles went to Dave McWhirter Rich Dyment, Doug Mumford and Kevin Hayes. Chris O'Reilly started in net for the Warriors but Chris Fowlie took over for the second and third periods. The follwoing night, the Warriors travelled to Hamilton and proved to be too much for the Bay Area Bangels, winning 12-7. Passfield led the Warriors' at- tack this night with three goals. Jason Richards, Jeff McComb and Boyd each had doubles with Mike Ruffo adding a single. WHITBY FREE PRESS g L~LYWLY~ DEADLINES FOR DISPLAY AND CLASSIFIED ADS WILL BE 12 NOON, MONDAY, JUNE 29 OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED JULY 1st, 1987 Whitbypeewees win soccer tourney.......... FROM PAGE 20 Amy Howey was the star of the second game, scoring four goals as Whitby defeated Richmond Hill 7-3. Donna MacPherson with one and Smith with two goals completed Whitby's scoring. In the third game Hill scored the lone goal as Whitby defeated Thor- nhill 1-0. In the semi-final Whitby defeated Thornhill 2-1 on eoals by Howey and Catherine Campbell. In the final Whitby defeated Newmarket 2-1 when Campbell scored in overtime with less than two minutes remaining. Smith had tied it for Whitby after Newmarket had taken an early 1-0 lead. Jennifer Blais was strong in goal for Whitby throughout the tournament. Whitby's under-12 team, coached by Stan Niedzwiedzki, also played well in the tournament. They defeated Markham 3-1 on goals by Carrie Van Veghel, Jennifer Maz- zotta, and Diana Niedzwiedzki. Heather Bird scored three and Van Veghel on as Whitby defeated Richmond Hill 4-1. In the third game Bird and Niedzwiedzki each scored as Whitby defeated Clarkson 2-1. Whitby lost semi-final5-0. to Clarkson in the testing, it is immersed in wax after a tissue processor pumps chemicals into the tissue and removes all the water which is normally found in body tissue. Various chemicals are used to stain the tissue so it will be easier for the pathologist to read its message under a microscope. In the case of severe lung disease, blood work done in the lab 1nay be vital in monitering treat- ment. Blood gases under partial pressure are estimated every hour for three hours after the patient is admitted, to stabilize the blood oxygen-carrying capacity. Blood work is repeated for three days on victims of heart attack, says James, so that the blood chemistry is constantly under ob- servation. In a hospital, the doctors may prescribe the cures] but the lab techn logists providé much of the inforniation that helps them decide what to do. If pregnant, tests can determine if there are any antibodies which may endager the child's life, and treatment can be provided in.some cases before birth. Lab tests can also determinie if there is cancer or blood disorders. Delays in change order reports: Town ga 9 ~ fûàEl&'r0 ~ WILL BE PUBiLSHING ON 1 lblý