With a total of 577 medical evaluations, most of whom required laboratory
work,

there was considerable pressure on the laboratory to complete an indi-

vidual's tests at the time of examination.

The final tally of tests was:

Complete blood counts, including white cell differentials and

platelet counts: 475
Routine urinalyses:

475

Microscopic exams of urine:
61
Stools for ova and parasites:
18

Bacteriologic cultures:
Blood chemistries: 68
Sedimentation rates:

40

15

Serum preparation for Path. Assoc.:
Red Cell folate hemolysates:
169

Hb Aj, hemolysates:

62

Serum separation for BNL:

51

475

The success of this considerable effort can be attributed in great partto
the renovated lab area on the. LiktanurI wish to express our thanks to

Capt. Coberly for the expanded and more efficient and comfortable laboratory
arrangements.

Other diagnostic procedures, by the way, included 36 electrocardiograns,

150 pap smears, 250 stool exams for occult blood, and several tissue blopsies
and proctoscopies. I mention them to give you some idea of the extent of the
medical workup provided on board the Liktanur.
I continue to be impressed
with how such a small ship can so effectively support the variety of services
we provide over a relatively short period of time.
There was one potentially very serious problem on this survey, and, as you
are aware, that was the lack of a functioning x-ray machine.
It is most for-

tunate that a situation requiring urgent x-ray diagnosis was not encountered
at Rongelap and Utirik. It is certainly possible that a life could have been
lost had we met with a patient who had a “surgical” abdomen or extensive
trauma.
(There could have been important information obtained in either of
these events even though the present machine is not a powerful one). I know

that the reason for the x-ray malfunction does not lie with your support
services.
I do hope, however, that the seriousness of the problem can be passed to those individuals who assured us that the machine would be in service.
We should, in addition, begin to consider the x-ray unit which will be re-

quired for the next trip. Given our fiscal limitations both at PASO and BNL
this may be a problem. I did budget for a new machine this past January, but
that would be for FY 1983-84. If we are forced into a new x-ray unit at this

time we would consider the recommendation of Mr. Kosang Mizutani, the x-ray
repair specialist in the Marshall Islands.
He recommends a unit they now have
at Majuro and apparently in other districts of the Trust Territory.
He indi-~
cates it functions well (low frequency of repair necessary) and, in addition,
they have parts and the expertise to handle repairs that do occur.
This unit
is manufactured by Shimadzu Seisakusho Ltd., Kyoto, Japan, and is their model

MD1OOP-11PW.

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