The stat laboratory: facilitating blood gas and biochemical measurements for the critically ill and injured.

The stat laboratory has evolved to fulfill the need for rapidly available laboratory data in support of clinical decision-making af the bedside of the critically ill or injured patient. The operation of a stat laboratory, which was first organized more than 12 years ago, is described. Methods of organization, instrumentation, technics and sequencing of analyses, and costs for a standard panel of stat laboratory measurements on arterial or mixed venous blood are described. In addition to blood gases, measurements include hematocrit, hemoglobin, oxygen saturation, methemoglobin, carboxyhemoglobin, blood lactate, plasma electrolytes, plasma osmolality, plasma colloid osmotic pressure, and estimated plasma protein content. The panel of tests is completed and reported within 11 min after a 5-ml sample of arterial or mixed venous blood is delivered to the laboratory.