The lab is more than you think.

Without Labs, Patient Care Stops

As a patient, the care you receive is supported by a team of medical laboratory professionals. They focus on your results, so you can focus on what's important. Just look what would happen if that lab wasn't there for a single day.

Size Matters

The number of lab tests performed every day in Canada is equal to one lab test for every person living in...

Sugar Rush

It's estimated that more than 20 people are diagnosed with diabetes every hour of every day². All three types of diabetes are diagnosed through laboratory tests. Three laboratory tests; the fasting glucose test, the glucose tolerance test, and the hemoglobin A1c test, play a critical role in diagnosing pre-diabetes. Lab tests are vital when monitoring risk factors such as changes in diet. Laboratory testing can help prevent complications from diabetes such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease, amputation, and even death.

Blood is Just The Beginning

While lab professionals do analyze blood samples, they also analyze many other bodily fluids and tissue. Hover over the images below to see what a lab professional might see.

A Key Part of the Fight

The laboratory plays a key role in diagnosing almost 500 cases of cancer every day.

Laboratorians Speak Out

Medical laboratory professionals are proud of their important work and they want everyone to know about it.

Heart of the Matter

Believe it or not, lab tests are the most accurate way to diagnose a heart attack. Heart attacks are difficult to diagnosis because the symptoms may be similar to other conditions. But lab test can measure specific subtances in the blood that are only released when there is heart stress or damage. Without these tests, victims of heart attack could go undiagnosed or experience a delay in treatment, causing permanent heart damage and even death.

Rockin' Around the Clock

Many laboratories are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, processing lab tests and getting the results out as quickly as possible. Lab professionals often work shiftwork and are performing intricate and sophisticated tests, late into the night or early in the morning.

Scroll through the gallery to see that no matter what time their shift is, these lab professionals love their jobs and take your results seriously.

Blood Drive

In Canada, how many units of donated blood are required on a daily basis?

Assessing the Damage

14,065 major traumas are treated every year⁵. In the case of major traumas, physicians must quickly assess the injuries to develop a course of treatment. Laboratory tests provide the answers they need. Each lab test will tell a story. It could be that the patient is bleeding internally, or they have A+ blood type, or if they have low levels of oxygen in their blood. Without these lab tests, physicians may have to rely on less trustworthy means to find answers.

Before You Go

Take a moment to read the one thing lab professionals want you to know about the work they do in the lab.