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| U.S. Army Lt. Col. Lowell Larson, a lab technician in his civilian job, trains the Afghan technicians in how to use the equipment. |
| By U.S. Army Spc. Laura E. Griffin Task Force Devil Public Affairs |
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| SHARAN PROVINCIAL RECONSTRUCTION TEAM, Afghanistan, Oct. 5, 2005 -- Sunshine pours through the windows illuminating the Sharan hospital's lab room. A single, antiquated microscope sits on the counter next to an old centrifuge and some bottles of dye. On a table in the middle of the room is a large black box that U.S. Army Lt. Col. Lowell Larson, a special projects officer with the Combined Joint Task Force-76 Surgeon Cell, has brought in and is the focus of attention in the room. The "Lab-in-a-Suitcase," as the box is called, was donated to the hospital by the surgeon cell and contains a binocular microscope, a field colorimeter (an instrument for chemistry analysis), a hematocrit centrifuge (for blood analysis) and a solar panel to charge the batteries. Larson's job was to train the hospital's lab technicians how to properly use the equipment. "Without the proper training, this would be a wasted donation," said Larson. "The equipment would probably just sit and collect dust. But these technicians are very quick and eager to learn about the equipment and some new techniques. They just need the proper materials to do their jobs right." The training took place in two phases over two days. Day one was spent at the Sharona Provincial Reconstruction Team Medical Aid Station going over blood drawing techniques and reviewing cell identification through the microscope. A fully illustrated manual came with the kit and was very helpful in bridging the language gap between the instructor and his students, who also spoke some English.
"This book is so helpful for us; it is a very good, very clear book," said Mohammad Ayub, one of the lab technicians being trained. "It has so many examples of what we can expect to see through the microscope that will help us diagnose things like cancer." Day two was spent at the Sharan hospital in the lab doing step-by-step training in hematology, chemistry and identification through the microscope working with blood and urine samples from actual hospital patients. "This is where I'm really in my element," said Larson, who is a reservist out of Germany and is a lab technician in his civilian job. Larson's normal Army job is an air defense artillery officer, but he volunteered to help out with this work because he felt it was important for both the Afghan people and coalition forces stationed here. "We are helping to build up the local hospitals and make them self-sufficient," Larson said. "Getting the labs closer to modern standards is a huge step." |
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| Lt. Col. Edward Michaud, the cooperative medical assistance director for the Combined Joint Task Force 76 Surgeon Cell, agrees. "One of our two main missions in this country is to go around and assess the local hospitals and see what we can do to help upgrade their current equipment," said Michaud. "It's a two way street. Our hospitals treat Afghans with medical threats to their life, limbs or eyesight. When we finish treating them, we hand them over to the local hospitals for recovery and follow-up treatments. If those hospitals cannot properly treat the patients then they have to remain in our hospitals longer, which limit the number of beds we have to offer to new patients." The surgeon cell's other main mission is to do Medical Civilian Assistance Programs, where a team drives out to various locations and offers on-the-spot medical aid to the residents. During the hands-on training in the lab, Larson and Ayub exchanged slide-making techniques with the samples they had. "They do things a little differently here, and it has worked for them," said Larson. "But with this new equipment, they will be able to do more work faster." Ayub could not conceal his enthusiasm for the new equipment. When the training was over, he was left grinning from ear to ear. "This new technique is very good," he said smiling. "Before we did all the work by hand, now it is much easier; now we can investigate the patient's problems much faster. Before it took hours, and now less than an hour." This donation was filtered through the many levels of scrutiny that all Army projects and donations go through before coming to fruition. "The key to all projects and donations is sustainability," said Michaud, echoing a common theme heard throughout the various provincial reconstruction teams. "We try to work within the system by first assessing what needs to be done and asking certain questions like, 'Is it feasible?' and 'Who is going to do the maintenance on it?' We work with various non-governmental organizations, the local and central Afghan government, and [U.S. Agency for International Development] to see what the best course of action is. It is important that we work through these organizations to make sure that they can continue to build on and maintain these projects." In this case, the "Lab-in-a-Suitcase" was determined to have the most immediate benefit to the hospital. The total cost of the donation was around $3,500.00. Other hospitals around the country are going through similar improvements with the help of the traveling surgeon cell. |