[Histonet] Re: Autopsy Duties

[Sellis4051 <@t> aol.com]

I'm a histotech who's worked a couple different autopsy jobs and I've got a 
couple suggestions for morgue coverage when both the PA and deiner are off duty.
1. Two pathologists work together
2. Pathologist lowers expectations and uses anyone willing to stand there and 
hold/move/clean stuff.
3. Cultivate an autopsy volunteer pool. Plenty of people claim to be 
interested in morgue work and are looking for ways to break into the field. 

Any of the above three suggestions should bring respect for the missing PA 
and diener who may even enjoy the challenge of creating a training checklist for 
these volunteers. At my most recent job there was a "second stringer" for 
morgue work who would fill in if the "main man" was unavailable and they never 
had the same days off. I enjoy assisting at autopsy so much that I come in on my 
days off to be there. Fascinating work if you can get it as there is always 
something to learn from each case.

Sandra Ellis
HT-ASCP
Diplomat-American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigation

Message: 13
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2003 09:53:23 -0500
From: "Noreen Gilman" <Ngilman <@t> nbhd.org>
To: <histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Subject: [Histonet] Autopsy duties

I have a question for all the hospital based histo personnel, but first
some background:
Our facility employ a gentleman as a lab aide who makes cassettes and
accessions surgical specimens. He also is trained and does the work of
an autopsy technician, assisting the pathologist at autopsy. None of my
histotechs are trained to do this, even though watching an autopsy and
assisting at them was part  of their training to get their ACP.  When
our lab aid is off, our PA does the post. The question came up :what if
the lab aid & the PA is off and an autopsy comes up, what then? What
does the rest of the world do?
Thanks for your input. Have a happy Thanksgiving holiday
Noreen

Noreen Gilman, BS, HT (ASCP) QIHC
Histopathology Supervisor
Broward General Medical Center
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/pipermail/histonet/attachments/20031129/61900276/attachment.htm