Teresa Martin: Working Behind the Scenes to Fight Covid-19

Teresa Martin is a medical technologist who has lived in Versailles for 22 years. She currently works at a hospital in Lexington. Throughout this article, she shares her experience with how Covid-19 has affected her job.

What is your job title and what does it involve?

Medical Laboratory Scientist-I process blood products and bodily fluids for testing, aid in the diagnosis of disease processes, monitor drug therapy, and health maintenance.

How involved are you in the novel coronavirus response?

I’m involved indirectly. I answer questions from healthcare providers. We assist in monitoring the labs of patients that are currently in the hospital with Covid-19. We send out specimens that are collected from other doctor’s offices and draw stations and send them out to other reference laboratories. We also collect the results and call all of the positives to the patient’s primary health care provider.

How important is the lab in fighting the coronavirus?

Labs are the ones that make the initial diagnosis. Without them, doctors are given a place to start treatment. They also let patients know when they have been diagnosed so that they can go into self-isolation. Medical treatments and therapies can only begin with a diagnosis from the lab first.

Can you talk more about the process of monitoring patients who have the coronavirus?

There’s a standard set of labs that are ordered when a patient is suspected of having the coronavirus. These labs help the doctor know the condition of their patient, as well as allowing for early intervention in the methods for treating coronavirus.

Oftentimes you hear people thanking doctors and nurses, but there are many other positions that are integral to fighting this disease that is not often talked about. Do you feel that lab workers have gone unnoticed in the media? Why do you think that is?

Yes, the medical field as a whole is very important in diagnosing and treating Covid-19 along with most other medical conditions. The lab is often unrepresented because very little is known about laboratory medicine. Most often people do not know that our field requires a 4-year degree and think that it is a lot of pushing buttons and getting answers. However, there is a lot more that goes on in the background. This position requires an in-depth understanding of the sciences. Those with a laboratory science degree often pursue medical school, as well. We don’t have patient contact and we aren’t out and about in the hospital, so it is easy for us to go unnoticed.

If you could say something to those who fail to understand the importance of your position what would it be?

Laboratory medicine is a very important part of medicine. Most medical decisions are not made without a lab result. We have backgrounds and licensure in hematology, chemistry, blood banking, urinalysis, microbiology, immunology, parasitology, toxicology, lab safety, and operation. We all have degrees, and our job is very scientific and technical. We operate analyzers and ensure that they are performing consistently to provide optimal results. Our job is often manual at times as well. We spend a lot of time at a microscope. Clinical laboratory science is science at it’s best.

Remember to thank all healthcare workers for their role in fighting this pandemic. No matter what their position is they are important and deserve recognition. Unfortunately, there are many in this field that are unrecognized for their contribution to this fight. Healthcare workers across the world are feeling the impact of this pandemic, whether or not they are on the front lines or behind the scenes.