Southwest Asia -- The Expeditionary Medical Group medical support flight can now save Airmen a seven hour trip to the emergency room thanks to the arrival of a new Coulter AcT diff2 complete blood count machine.
After an eight month wait, the $24K machine represents a major increase in capability for the EMDG.
“The machine will aid in the overall diagnosis and treatment of illnesses in our patients,” said Staff Sgt. John, medical laboratory technician.
“This machine allows us to diagnose and give a quick determination of whether or not the patient is having an infection,” said Lt. Col. Blake, chief of medical staff. “For example, sometimes a patient will look like they have appendicitis, but that may not be the case. This machine will help us determine the likelihood of whether or not it is appendicitis.”
According to the EMDG commander having this capability is a first for the unit.
“The previous machine we received from Manas never worked,” said Col. Kevin, EMDG commander. “A lot of time and money went in trying to repair it. This is the first time the EMDG has had the capability of testing blood within our facility.”
The Coulter AcT diff2 offers a full range of features to include measuring red blood cells, which carry oxygen to white blood cells, which fight infection.
“We can tell if you have an infection or explain why you are tired,” said John. “We can narrow a lot of stuff down and catch things from mono to leukemia.”
Previously, EMDG would take complete blood count tests downtown for processing and would have to wait three or four days to get results back.
“This machine can run a sample and get us results in about three minutes,” said John, currently deployed from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., and a native of Christiansburg, Va. “It takes about ten minutes from the time the patient sits in the chair to getting the results out of the machine.”
The previous process was time-intensive due to both the 3-4 day delay in receiving results and the potential man-hours lost if a patient was sent to the ER for immediate results.
“Just taking one person in the ambulance, you are taking for our five people out of their duty section,” said Blake. “This machine saves us a full day’s work for five people just by having the results within a few minutes.”
Time is not the only thing the EMDG will be saving by using this new machine.
“Over the last two years we sent out over 168 CBC’s, which cost about $100 each,” said John. “So having this machine will help us save money. The machine will pay for itself and help us save money in the long run.”
(Editor’s note: Due to safety and security reasons, last names and unit designators were removed.)