Community Hospital’s laboratory department is always excited to receive new pieces of laboratory equipment, but most important to them is what the new equipment means for patients.

Recently acquired in the laboratory through a grant from Community Hospital Health Foundation was a new blood bank plasma freezer.

“It’s important to keep laboratory equipment updated for the most accurate results for quality patient care,” said Laboratory Director Brad Hays.

The new blood bank plasma freezer stores plasma at -30 Celsius. Blood plasma must be frozen, stored, and thawed very carefully following strict procedures. At Community Hospital blood plasma is most commonly administered to boost patient blood volume and help with blood clotting. Many of the trauma and oncology patients seeking treatment at Community Hospital receive fresh frozen plasma which is kept frozen in the new freezer.

The freezer is also used for storing human tissue specimens that are used in the surgery department. Human tissue specimens must be stored at precise temperatures. The department also stores controls that are used to verify daily analyzer performance in the lab.

The new freezer has a built-in, state-of-the-art temperature monitoring device which helps to maintain a necessary log of temperatures to satisfy regulations. Proper temperatures must be maintained in order to provide safe products for our patients.

“Equipment performing at the peak of precision and accuracy is of utmost importance in the laboratory,” Hays said. “Patients and providers are counting on it. We are so thankful for the financial help provided by Community Hospital Health Foundation,” he concluded.