CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

174
ESSENTIALS OF CLINICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
Safety Alert
Centrifuge Safety
Centrifuges may produce several
safety hazards when they are used in
the laboratory. Standard Precautions
must be observed, and the centrifuges
become contaminated easily by
spills and aerosols produced during
centrifugation. Instruction manuals
accompanying the instruments will
indicate the routine maintenance
necessary for adequate performance
and the proper manner in which to
clean the centrifuges.
General requirements for safe
operation include the following:
• The tubes placed in the wells of the
rotor must be balanced. Usually, various
sizes of tubes will be available
to place an equal volume of solution
to place directly opposite the specimen.
Remember that specimens
drawn in similar tubes may vary in
volume due to a variety of reasons.
• Tube should remain capped or otherwise
covered during the process
to prevent aerosolization of the
sample.
• Tubes are designed for certain sized
wells where the tube is placed, so
the correct tube and the correct
speed for the particular centrifuge
should be observed.
• Never open a centrifuge while the
rotor is spinning for two reasons.
Aerosols may be stirred by the rotation,
or tubes may break and throw
glass or plastic that might cause an
injury.
• Accidental spills should be cleaned
immediately according to the protocol
established by the laboratory.
Equipment and supplies are ordinarily purchased and stored in
quantities that will allow for uninterrupted performance of diagnostic
testing. They may include computer costs as well as clerical supplies.
Often there are lease-purchase options for large pieces of expensive
equipment where the laboratory pays for use of the instrument based
on the number of tests performed. Costs for proficiency testing programs,
quality control programs, and the reporting of patient results
to physicians’ offices and clinics mandates the establishment of an
extremely sophisticated set of procedures to ensure a smoothly running
laboratory with as little interruption of results as possible.
Common Equipment Used in Laboratories
Some equipment and supplies are generic (commonly used) in the
various departments of the laboratory based on the procedures specifically
performed there. Although a few items are commonly used
in all the departments, most of the supplies and equipment are used
only in one area or department. Storage space is often at a premium,
and frequently supplies are handled on an automatic standing
order, after a laboratory has determined its usage over a period
of time. Some materials have a short shelf life, or must be kept
under controlled conditions, such as in a frozen state or in a refrigerator.
These items are most often purchased on a regular shipping
schedule to eliminate having to destroy outdated materials or to at
least limit this sort of wastage of resources. The cost-effectiveness of
a well-managed laboratory is often scrutinized by the CEO of the
hospital, who may initiate directives to cut costs if the laboratory is
not doing an effective job of managing costs.
Many laboratories have procedures in place to continue the
workflow even if a major malfunction in equipment or defective
supplies occurs. Sometimes a piece of equipment that has been
replaced by a later model will be retained for such eventualities.
This sometimes requires occasionally “cranking up” the instrument
in storage to ensure it will function when it is needed on
an emergency basis. In some cases, the laboratory will revert to a
manual method that may take longer to perform, until the instrument
is repaired or needed supplies are obtained. Medical laboratory
workers must be innovative, flexible, creative, and able to
“think on their feet” on occasion. This section is devoted to an
exploration of some of the most commonly used equipment and
supplies on a department basis. The most commonly used items
of equipment and supplies will be listed by department, with discussion
relative to their use. The purpose of providing the following
categories of equipment at this point is to give the student a
background in some of the equipment and supplies he or she will
be employing when performing the representative laboratory procedures
in the next chapters.
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