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Good Catch Champion: Sara Prevalla

October 27, 2022

Sara Prevalla

Medical Technologist

Charlotte Hungerford Hospital

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What happened:

Sara was examining a patient’s blood smear under a microscope and detected an extremely low platelet count. Her observation did not match blood test results for the same patient that were reported an hour or so earlier. She ran the smear using the CBC analyzer and the result also was at odds with the earlier test. She and the nurse who did the morning blood draws rechecked all of the patients and quickly identified the individual with the low platelet count.

Safety behaviors demonstrated:

Sara’s questioning attitude helped a patient with a critically low platelet count receive timely and appropriate treatment.