Margaret "Dee" Fowler

Phlebotomy was done at Kootenai Health Hospital in all settings, from the ER to Pediatrics to Critical Care Units.are Units.

I worked an outpatient role at Kaiser Permanente, in a medical office setting. This was a high volume patient load setting, and included doing morning QC, waived testing, computer ordering of tests, phlebotomy, specimen processing, and a myriad of other details that go with this setting.

Covid shut down the office I was working in, and I retired from Kaiser Permanente since I met the parameters to retire.

I worked as a paramedical examiner for EMSI, while recovering from breaking my hip skiing.

My duties as a paramedical examiner were typical: Scheduling exams with patients, performing exams including: Gathering of patient demographics, performing an exam, including recording measurements & vitals,an EKG, a detailed medical history, and sample collection of blood and/or urine.

Specimen processing and preparation for shipping were dofne at home, paperwork turned in at the office, and shipping of kits/ppwk finished the process.

*I also trained to do, and did cognitive testing exams as a paramedical examiner.

Salem Hospital is where I did my practicum for the phlebotomy course I took, and I was offered a position before finishing my practicum.

I began with an inpatient position, and built my foundation in the departments I worked there: ER, Neonatal Care, ICU, CCU, Post-Surgery, Neurology, Oncology, Dialysis, Long-term care, Psych Ward, and Long-term care facilities, including Alzheimer's care.

I was fortunate to work there while phlebotomiststed still performed arterial blood gases and became proficient with them.

I eventually accepted an outpatient position, and learned to do drug screening, BAT testing, and paternity collections.

My tenure at Salem Hospital ended abruptly when I broke my hip skiing on Mt Hood. After the initial recovery period, I took a job working as a paramedical examiner while I finished recovering.

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