OCR Text |
Show 18 for your information HILL TOP TIMES July 17, 1)17 DDDDp?WDQIg As a result of 1 984 investigations, security, quality control are better 66 By Anna C. Mercurio Air Force News Service The BROOKS AFB, Texas (AFNS- )- Air Force has improved procedures at its drug testing laboratory to ensure the accuracy of test results. The laboratory underwent four separate investigations in 1984. As a result of the findings, security and quality control procedures have been unproved, according to Col. Robert L. Groshner, drug laboratory commander. Today ,he says, "The laboratory essentially looks like Fort Knox." The locks on the steel entrance doors are changed each time someone quits or is looks like Fort Knox. Col. Robert L. Groshner :, : . . 99 ; traces every action taken on the sample and identifies all handlers. He said a lawyer "ensures the legal sufficiency of the test results for whatever level of action is taken." The lawyer assists the lab in maintaining forensically sound testing procedures. The colonel interviews each of the 0 certified . civilian employees and stresses the need for i00 percent accuracy. He looks for motivation. "They know that eventually their urines are going to be tested along with everyone else in the Air Force. So knowing they're going to be subject to their own program, they want the accuracy to be as high as absolutely possible," the colonel said. The 90 drug lab employees, which include six chemists with doctorate degrees and five chemists with master's degrees, are tested four times a year by an Army lab. "We are subject to drug testing Additionally, urine samples are kept in a second secure area to which only the specimen control specialists have access. After workhours, motion detectors alert security police if anyone enters the area. The laboratory serves 290 Air Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and Army units. Befor cause military members can be drug usage. Colonel Groshner said every specimen is handled as a potential court case with each step the sample takes to and from the forensic lab recordy document. This document ed on a 45-5- d chain-of-custod- e 1985 Orug laboratory commander ' transferred. court-martiale- laboratory essentially more often than anyone else in the Air Force," he said. Employee accuracy is under constant scrutiny. Each week, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, a reference laboratory for all Department of Defense laboratories, sends 48 samples to field units which submit them to the laboratory disguised as regular samples. "If we call one of their negative samples positive for any reason, either chemistry or administrative error' the colonel said, a single phone call could ."shut down the laboratory. ; "In 16 years of history, that has never happened at this laboratory," the colonel said. Aftor collection at the basos, specimens are capped with tamper resistant seals and numbered. Batches of samples are' shipped along with the y document. A sample is discarded if there is evidence of tampering or if there is a break in the chain of custody. "The process we use. to ship urine samples is essentially identical to what we do with classified mail," said Colonel Groshner. Each sample initially undergoes radioimmunoassay testing. If it screens positive, the second test O Continued on Page 19 chain-of-custod- Have a McDonnell Douglas Corporation HI if Hli ... " .ilMlummuutf Hi. ,:!!,'!: ' I'll:-- : safe . i,i5"!i ......ill" smmfmW" mm- summer! mmmmmm - '.J'-,- : I;.. -- Mil I '.t- - ':' '!i,:': ; ... 'fx. ; Hiitif;!1"-:!:- -: ... iJiiiiiiliiijil" mm : i l!! iM'U ..'Vsasww- ' . Hiiiffl ''til ''mm m in ion 'i II. i. i n v:W czsrjTO GCiui u 'ii'- .ii ii n iw Ml: ...iL.u.H'in ti M U' H i" HI ' i.r .i mm i ,i,u rttH tili!,,,'l!l ,tffl mm w .rt in III i.iv: III Tii: !i ' to mm ton iMinnill '. I'': ' .i ' ' , mm Drive with care lUiUUWIUIUIHIIUIIIIU H3 s ft v luawiinflrein .i z :j Finr::::: G? jit i. Y lit!1' is, ..... ..M i ll m !' ::i-I- H liiiiiliil! JliijllllJMJ"ll)i :ii Itl IBS r ii 1 mmmhi jti" V" B'l "li" lll!lll" T"Ulil''illlB,,',ffl""lil ijiir Tii"''""ii.i'niiiHiiiiiiiiiiii,1li.iii!iiiiiiUBMaim: t'llll',,Jllwllrw, - .1 lii Jllliil; l- !inniwimwnwiiiiiiiTMmiiimniiiiiHniiii!iimiiiiiin Every military pilot knows the drill: The charts, checkpoints, weather, fuel calculations, defensive system analysis. And especially the hours it takes. Now there's a better way. Our computer-baseMilitary Aircraft Planning System lets aircrews plan every aspect of a combat or training mission anywhere in the world in a fraction of the time previously required. The reference data needed is in the computer. Interactive color graphics show basic geography with contours and population centers; navigation aids, corridors and checkpoints; even hostile defenses with radar terrain masks. As the mission planner develops the route, he gets a comprehensive analysis of his aircraft's performance, necessary navigation d information, and an evaluation of the plane's ability to penetrate. Within minutes he can revise the route to minimize exposure to hostile defenses. The system not only cuts hours off planning time, it can cut attrition rates as well. Operational simulations in Europe predict a 31 increase in mission success with the system. The Military Aircraft Planning System. We've needed it for a long time, and now ifs here. It's ready to improve our training and our ability to fight and win. McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company Mission Planning Systems, P.O. Box S 16 St Louis, Missouri 63166. 1U: 8 Protect your employees, your company, and yourself from the personal sutler ing and financial loss of cancer. . .can your local unit of the American Cancer Society and ask for their free pamphlet, "Helping Your Employees to Protect Themselves Against Cancer." Start your company on a policy of good health today' fSOCUTY Thu space cortntouMO m potofcc mvic |