I was wondering what others were doing for handling formalin fixation of
specimens obtained from the O.R.  Do the O.R. staff keep a small volume of
10% Neutral Buffered Formalin (NBF) in the room (with the patient under
anesthesia) and add formalin to the specimen immediately in the O.R. room?
Or is the fresh specimen passed out of the room and formalin added to it at
another site? (If this is so, what is the delay time between specimen
removal and fixation?) Are there any regulations stating that formalin can
not be in the O.R. room with the patient? (I am aware of current OSHA
standards regarding formalin, but this particular scenario is not
specifically addressed, and I'd like to know how others handle it). Thanks
for your input,
Sue O'Brien, Histology Supervisor
Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
e-mail: histo@bthosp.com <mailto:histo@bthosp.com>
phone: 609-463-2449