Acknowledge the laboratory team during National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week April 18-24 Published April 15, 2010 By Valerie Mullett 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs Office MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week is April 18-24. It is an annual celebration of the medical laboratory professionals and pathologist who play a vital role in every aspect of health care. According to the American Society for Clinical Pathology, the event is a chance for medical laboratory personnel to celebrate their professionalism and be recognized for their efforts. Malmstrom's medical laboratory team has amassed numerous awards and recognition since last year's celebration. Led by Maj. Marybeth Luna, Diagnostics and Therapeutics Flight commander, the other team members include Geoffrey Fallon, floor supervisor; Tech. Sgt. Nicanor Barboza, NCOIC; Tech. Sgt. Tiffany Sykes, Assistant NCOIC; Staff Sgt. Jonathan Shields, Medical Laboratory Technician; Senior Airman Tambara Hamilton, Medical Laboratory Technician; and Michael Pearson, contract Medical Laboratory Technician. Mr. Fallon, who has been with the Malmstrom lab team since 1993, was selected as the 341st Missile Wing Civilian Supervisor of the Year Category II as well as the Air Force Space Command and Air Force-level Laboratory Supervisor of the Year for 2009. Some of his accomplishments include developing a barcode system for labeling patient samples creating a nearly impossible chance of making errors. For his efforts, he earned an "excellent" rating from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care Health Care Inspection. He was also hand-picked by the 341st Medical Support Squadron commander to be the quality assurance evaluator on a $75K contract. He supervised or performed more than 97K patient tests which saved $95K in referral lab expenditures, and was responsible for increasing flu collection kit stockpiles by 100 percent to ensure the base was postured for a flu epidemic. Outside his professional accomplishments, Mr. Fallon regularly contributes funds to the immediate community, donating to help those with medical needs and providing food for the rescue missions. He also participated in programs that help needy children abroad. Of all of his accomplishments, Mr. Fallon is most proud of being part of a winning team. Sergeant Barboza was named the Air Force Space Command Laboratory NCO of the Year for 2009. Among his achievements, he transcribed four military laboratory technician's training records with 1,160 tasks each into a computer-based required program with no errors. He was responsible for directing more than 4.4K tests with less than a .5 percent recall rate -- which means less than .5 percent of the samples collected were not sufficient for the testing ordered for them. He is responsible for the laboratory's self-inspection program where he researched 670 standards, corrected 41 write-ups and ensured 100 percent compliance of wing standards. Sergeant Barboza is also the unit fitness program manager for the squadron and the group where he developed and personalized a program for three at-risk troops. Under his fitness guidance, 100 percent of the squadron surpassed the standards and 24 percent received excellent scores. He carried his fitness prowess into the community volunteering to help organize an elementary school sports day where the children ran a mile and completed push-ups to name a few. He also donated his time to be a representative at the MSU College of Technology career day and served as a chaperone at last year's graduation night celebration for the C.M. Russell High School. Sergeant Barboza's is most proud of Sergeant Shields' selection as NCO of the Year for the group and also, being part of an award-winning team. Sergeant Shields was named the 341st Medical Group NCO of the Year for 2009. Some of his unique accomplishments include becoming one of only 20 percent of Air Force laboratory technicians to pass the national accreditation exam for medical laboratory technicians -- something that isn't a requirement of the military but something he pursued to improve his professional worth. In house, he is the subject matter expert on the M1M analyzer and ensured all his co-workers received proficiency training on it. He is the laboratory safety representative and in that capacity he conducts monthly training for the staff to maintain continuity with safety procedures within their area of responsibility. He was also instrumental in assisting the Montana Air National Guard when one of their personnel required testing beyond the MANG's capabilities. In reaching out to the sister services, he also was the liaison with an Army ROTC detachment in Helena to create a collection kit for physical health assessments which slashed the number of errors by 100 percent. Sergeant Shields, who is an Eagle Scout himself, has been mentoring young men from his hometown of Grand Forks, N.D., toward attaining the highest Scout rank themselves. He also volunteered with Operation Warm Heart , helps a rancher he befriended with planting and harvesting, and donates to St. Jude's Children Hospital and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Sergeant Shields is most proud of his recent community service effort of teaching the children at Loy Elementary School the proper way to wash their hands (see accompanying story). To cap off a tremendous year of accomplishments for these individuals, the group, as a whole, was selected as the Air Force Space Command Laboratory Team for 2009. The team ensured deployment health readiness for more than 2K forces. They reworked the quality assurance program and garned an "excellent" rating from the Inspector General inspectors. The team was able to slash lab test turnaround times which led to them receiving excellent ratings from 95 percent of their customers and earn two Health Services Inspection outstanding performer awards. Additionally, the team aggressively rectified 31 critical College of Pathologists write-ups, transforming the Medical Group laboratory into a success story in three months. These are just some of the many highlights of the team's accomplishments. The other members of the team, Airman Hamilton and Mr. Pearson, are proud to have contributed to the award, as well. Airman Hamilton is most proud of her impeccable records keeping as the laboratory's official records custodian and enjoys volunteering with a variety of organizations when opportunities arise. She is currently working on her bachelor's degree in health sciences. She has been part of the team for three years. Mr. Pearson came on board as a contract employee in September 2009. He is also a technical sergeant in the MANG where he works as a medical laboratory technician. He said that when he saw this job opening, he was eager to join the Malmstrom team and bring his 8 years of experience on board, helping with the workload so the military members could keep up with the demands of the current operations tempo. Sergeant Sykes is currently deployed. "The fact that they are so mission focused and they'll do what it takes to get the work done -- and done with precision -- and the fact that they take so much pride in being part of the lab team makes me very proud to be part of this team with them," said Major Luna. During the upcoming week of celebration for medical laboratory technicians, let the team know you appreciate their results-proven dedication.