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For Release Friday,
19th April, 2002 |
CONTACT: TIM O’CONNOR
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PHONE:561-355-3576
FAX:561- 355-3038
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PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL—Ever waited for lab test results anticipating the worst and hoping for the best? ----Couldn’t understand who these mystery people are that hold the answers? During, National Laboratory Week, through April 21, 2002, the message is clear, laboratory personnel are the gatekeepers for unlocking the secrets of a persons future.
The laboratories within the Palm Beach County’s Health Department, during the last year, conducted over 500,000 tests and delivered to waiting patients everything from pregnancy confirmations to T-cell counts for HIV. Andrea Hulbert, Lab Director, said, “What we do is at times very tedious work. Everything must be checked and rechecked because the physicians we support will render their diagnosis based on our data.” Hulbert added, “It could be a disaster if we make a mistake.”
A lab can test for a number of things. The health department lab is broken down to several areas including, chemistry, microbiology, hematology, immunology and molecular biology. Each of these specialty areas test for things like cholesterol levels, thyroid conditions, prostate cancer, rubella, chlamydia, group B strep and many others.
“I like to think of my work as a form of prevention. What we supply is an understanding of what might be wrong and with early detection a doctor can monitor the cure,” said Hulbert. As an example Hulbert sighted the Chem 19 test which reviews 19 different constituents in a person's system including sodium and glucose which, if inconsistent may be an indicator for diabetes. In all, the lab conducted 10,686 Chem 19 tests.
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Other laboratories have their specialties, whether it is environmental sampling for pollutants or biological's from a terrorist event it can be reassuring to know that there are people willing to determine the origins and thus, help with the cure.
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