Laboratory Equipment Operation & Maintenance Flashcards
7 cards from real CMLA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Laboratory Equipment Operation & Maintenance flashcards as text
What does a Levy-Jennings chart primarily monitor in a clinical laboratory?
Answer: Quality control results over time to detect trends and shifts
Levy-Jennings charts plot QC values over time, allowing laboratory staff to detect shifts, trends, and random errors visually.
When should a biological safety cabinet (BSC) blower be turned on before beginning work?
Answer: At least 5 minutes before use to purge and stabilize airflow
Running the BSC blower for at least 5 minutes before use ensures stable, uncontaminated airflow that protects both the worker and specimen.
An automated hematology analyzer produces a flagged result for white blood cell count. What is the appropriate next step?
Answer: Prepare and review a peripheral blood smear for manual differential
Flagged hematology results require peripheral smear review to confirm or further characterize abnormalities before reporting.
Which type of water is recommended for most laboratory reagent preparation?
Answer: Deionized or distilled Type I or Type II reagent-grade water
Reagent-grade (Type I or II) water meets purity standards for conductivity and contaminants necessary for accurate laboratory testing.
What action should be taken if a pH meter reads outside the expected range when checked with a standard buffer?
Answer: Recalibrate the meter using certified buffers at known pH values
Recalibration with certified buffers corrects the electrode response curve so subsequent measurements are accurate.
Why is it important to use appropriately sized tubes when operating a centrifuge?
Answer: Mismatched tube sizes can cause imbalance and rotor stress, risking equipment failure
Tubes must fit the rotor buckets properly to prevent imbalance, vibration, and potential catastrophic rotor failure.
Which parameter is most critical to verify before using a new lot of control material on a chemistry analyzer?
Answer: That new lot values fall within acceptable ranges established by parallel testing
New lot controls must be validated by parallel runs with the current lot to establish mean and acceptable ranges before the old lot expires.