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 new technique is very good. 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."
Lab technician Mohammad Ayub
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"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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