Last edited Mon Dec 2, 2019, 05:45 PM - Edit history (1)
Laboratory specimens are transported all over the country every day by lab couriers for many reference labs. They are also flown in airplanes. My guess is that some lab courier really screwed up and ended up at the wrong place. Maybe he was new. My guess is that, if the specimens were destroyed, he was probably fired immediately.
My laboratory technologist Facebook Group is having a field day with this post (25,000+ members). Labs hire their own couriers to transport specimens every day to their clients from the point of origin to the laboratory. There was probably some required label on the specimens with the scary wording. Specimens are packaged in biohazard plastic zip bags with the biohazard label printed on them by most labs. There is a separate outside pocket for the requisition or labels that go with the specimen, and the specimen itself is labelled with the patient's name. Specimens are usually transported in coolers by the courier. They are packed and opened by lab personnel. The couriers usually don't have to touch the specimens. Technologists in large laboratories are around urine (and other) specimens on a daily basis. Of course, we have the means to deal with the specimens (proper disposal and handling). A movie theater obviously does not. Why someone did not call the laboratory involved is beyond me. A lot of doctors AND patients are going to be pretty pissed about these specimens being destroyed (pun intended).
Urine is used for many different types of tests. Off the top of my head, these include urinalysis, culture & sensitivity, toxicology (drug screens), various chemistry tests (sodium, potassium, creatinine levels, osmolality), urine pregnancy testing, also molecular testing for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoeae (STD's). There are lots of others I probably have not thought of, but these make up probably 90% of tests run on urine.
A urine specimen ideally is sterile. Yes, it can carry bacteria if the person has a urinary tract infection or STD, which is why it would be ordered for a urinalysis, culture and sensitivity testing, or STD testing. Hepatitis B can be, theoretically, transmitted via urine. Cholera and typhoid fever (VERY rare in the United states) is transmitted via infected stool. Group B strep can be in urine specimen, usually from vaginal flora contamination.
I worked in hospital and private laboratories as a clinical microbiologist for 35+ years. We handled ALL specimens with gloves on and wore PPE (personal protective equipment) consisting of fluid proof gowns. In microbiology they were opened under a BSC (bio safety cabinet) which exhausted air out and away from you while you were sitting there dealing with the specimens.
Yes, medical technologists handle urine, feces, blood, and bodily fluids EVERY DAY all over the world. This is what we do. Yes, you get used to it. Our lab was extremely busy and we usually processed a couple of hundred specimens every night on second shift alone, as we were a reference laboratory for our hospital system. We have college degrees and take pre-med courses. We can draw blood but the people that do that full time are phlebotomists. I never drew blood the last 20 years of my lab career. There are other lab people that do testing of lesser complexity. I was M.T. (ASCP) but since 2005 the title is now CLS (ASCP).
There is a national shortage of laboratory workers. If you or any of your family is interested in pursuing this career, check this website.
[link:https://www.ascp.org/content/board-of-certification|
Encourage your children who are interested in science to look into this as a major. There is so much work out there you will always be employed. I retired at age 66 and have been hit up three times to return to the lab as PRN or contingent. Baby boomers are retiring in droves and there are not enough schools to replace us.
Post from today lists Med Techs as #4 in Most In Demand jobs.
[link:https://tinyurl.com/radyxs7|
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