Hi!  We are interested in finding out how other labs handle the inevitable middle of the night phone calls when the alarm sounds on the tissue processor.  Who is responsible for dragging him or herself into the lab at three a.m. to resolve the problem, and does that person get paid to be "on call"?  Also, if your processor is going to be down for a few days or more, and a neighboring facility is gracious enough to process your tissues, (Thank You, Northside!!!) who is the lucky one driving miles away to deliver and pick up the tissues?  How is that person compensated for this service? 

Here is our situation.  Our Pathologist acts as our supervisor.  We have three techs, so we have decided to rotate the months between the three of us to be responsible for answering those middle of the night calls.  We do not get paid to be "on call", but we do punch in when we get here, and then punch out when we leave.  If we are here for an hour, they like us to try to leave an hour early at some time during the week to balance it out.  When our processor has been down for days at a time, we have driven our tissues to a neighboring hospital ourselves, and picked it up in the mornings ourselves as well.  For this, we are paid mileage from hospital to hospital, and our start time is considered to be the time we arrive at to pick up the tissue. 

We would very much appreciate your input and suggestions!  Thanks very much! 

Laura Jones
Sharon Regional Health System
Sharon, PA

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