TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The 72nd Medical Group is celebrating National Laboratory Professionals Week.
Every year, the last week of April designates this special week commemorating the 14 professional lab techs and pathologists who work, most times behind the scenes, to keep the entire Tinker Medical Group running smoothly. Each day these valued healthcare professionals conduct vital testing and analyze more than 228,000 lab tests annually with the ultimate goal of saving patient's lives.

The 72nd Medical Support Squadron Clinical Laboratory is divided into six sections: Hematology, Urinalysis, Chemistry, Microbiology, Immunology and Specimen Processing. They are accredited by the College of American Pathologists. The laboratory is staffed by Capt. Melissa Casapao and Master Sgt. Charles Timms, who are the laboratory managers; three nationally board certified medical technologists Carla Betts, Cynthia Jennings and Kim Koldste, serving as section technical advisors; three civilian health technicians/phlebotomists: Lori Cranford, Elizabeth StClair, and helly Jayne. As well as a varying number of military medical laboratory technicians who go through a rigorous 13 months of technical schooling and 12 months of upgrade training with 10 volumes of Career Development Courses.

The lab s fully staffed from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Exceptions are after noon on the third Wednesday of each month when the facility is closed for training, federal holidays and Air Force-directed down days. The lab's mission is to provide exceptional laboratory services to the men and women of the 72nd Air Base Wing, Tinker Air Force Base and the Oklahoma City metropolitan region.