Your Two Cents

Literally, your two cents really is needed. $45,000 is a lot of money to raise but a Hematology Analyzer for the Dr. Otto Rodriguez Poly Clinic will be very far reaching to our island and is well worth the effort.

Hematology Analyzers are used to count leucocytes, red cells, and platelets in our blood. They also determine hemoglobin and hematocrit levels and are extremely important for disease detection and help catch blood disorders and malignancies. Hematological tests can help diagnose infections, anemia, hemophilia, blood-clotting disorders, and leukemia.

Every Penny Counts

If everyone pitches in a little (or a lot if you have it to spare) we can help the Blue Water Grill Restaurant meet their goal faster. If you are willing and able to support this advancement for Ambergris Caye healthcare – we need your help. Aside from booking your Tropic Air flights with flight code horizon for an automatic donation at no extra cost, you can make a contribution while on vacation and enjoy Blue Water, The Phoenix, Red GInger or Wine de Vine. For those not currently in Belize but wish they were here to help, there is an easy online donation option.

Many of you are familiar with the saying it takes a lot of grains of sand to fill a bucket. Well, that bucket is slowly getting filled.

So far $7,422 has been raised by generous customer donations (which all the businesses matched) at Blue Water Grill, The Phoenix Resort, Red Ginger and, Wine de Vine. A personal thanks to the many many people who use Tropic Air and were willing to fly with a purpose, the monthly Code For a Cause donation was $1205.00. This brings the amount to a grand total of $8,422 raised for the month of March leaving $36,578 left to raise for the Hematology Analyzer.

Importance of the Medical Equipment

A hematology analyzer will expand the quality of medical treatments on Ambergris Caye, automated cell counters offer a high level of precision and accuracy for cell counting and sizing. A CBC, (complete blood count) also known as a full blood count (FBC), is usually the first test requested by physicians to detect a wide range of conditions listed above. With onsite hematological analysis options, Poly Clinic doctors will be able to provide more effective treatment to patients and will this benefit all residents of the island. As of right now, tests are done manually at the Poly Clinic which not only takes longer, but there are potential problems associated with manual counting. Distinguishing cell recognition such as lymphocytes from monocytes and numbers can be over or underestimated.

Botton line; doctors will have blood test results for their patients in 1-2 hours, instead of the 2-3 days it currently takes.

Technical Specs

If you are a health tech person and want a bit more, here are some of the details listed about the machine capability provided by Mulul Kanabar (given to him by the Ministry of Health). Hematology analyzer Cell-Dyn Emerald, 18 parameters with 3 part differential cell analysis. – 60 samples/hour. Small model: width 25cm and depth 35 cm. Equipped with: software, built-in keyboard, Power Supply:115VAC, 60Hz.