[Histonet] hood for manual special stains

[Maria Katleba]

Why would anyone open a new lab, give cytology a hood yet have a complete disregard for histology area?

I am so glad I work for Queen of the Valley Medical Center... they actually do care about ALL of there employees, no matter what department they work in.

To answer your question about fumes hoods and special stains:

I am sure there are many histotechs that are subjected to fumes from the special stains they do. This is because no one thinks about the consequences of us breathing heated GMS solution (heavy metal in vapor form) or phenol from the heated AFB solution you just used...or the formaldehyde (carcinogenic fumes) from the retic stain... Should I go on?

This may be to norm out there, but its very very wrong and asking us histotechs to work under unsafe conditions!

You must do you specials under a hood for your safety and/or be given proper PPE (personal protective equipment)!

Print this e-mail and have your boss, medical director, (or whoever else thinks it's ok for an employee to be subjected to potentially harmful fumes) call me.  I will be glad to talk to them about the danger of working in an unsafe condition.

Have them look at the following OSHA Guidelines:

Section III Chapter 3 Health Hazards/ Ventilation

Section VI Chapter 1 Healthcare Facilities

Section VIII Chapter 2 Personal Protective Equipment

This is not much help, but maybe it will open someone's eyes to the legitimate concern you bring up.

Good luck!

Maria Katleba HT (ASCP), MS
Pathology Dept. Manager
Queen of the Valley Medical Center
707-252-4411 x3689


-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Mark Love
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 3:34 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] hood for manual special stains


The hospital where I work just opened a new lab. The histology department is now combined with cytology and is made up of me, a second histotech, a cytology prep tech, and our cytotech supervisor. We didn't have a hood in the old lab, so we did our manual special stains on a workbench with weak, overhanging vents that looked like lamps. The one hood in our new department completely belongs to the cytology prep tech. She has her centrifuge and a lot of other equipment in it, and my supervisor does not want me or the other histotech to share it. Some of our workbenches have small vents built into the walls, but when I do my specials there, I still smell chemicals. Do most histotechs today use hoods to do manual special stains or am I being too wishful?
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