Re: remodeling

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From:rkline@emindustries.com
To:"Kolman, Kim" <Kim.Kolman@med.va.gov>
Reply-To:
Date:Wed, 02 Jun 1999 16:56:14 -0400
Content-Type:text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Just wanted to share with you my experience.  This may not all pertain to
your question, but I thought  is may help others.

I was involved in an extensive renovation of a very large grossing area
that involved two large separate rooms. which did not have any rennovations
for at least 20 years. Before the renovation, the formalin fumes where very
strong even with the behind  counter ventilation .  The residents would the
the ventilation off because they were nosy and interfered with dictation.
Residents were getting headaches and nose bleeds.  The room was always very
warm.  The heat created from the motors of 3 cryostats in combination with
the formalin fumes was actually creating the room to be warm.  The
cryostats where in the same room but scattered.

After I did a lot  of research, the hospital bought  down ventilated
grossing stations from Propath.   They were pneumatic and had everything
where it needed to be ( I think we were the first in the U.S. to have them)
along with 3 ventilated storage units which had rolling racks with large
ventilated shelves (something like closet systems) for storing specimens
from AFOS. The ventilated storage system and grossing stations were  vented
to the outside.  The ventilation was half the cost of the rennovation.

The second room was renovated for frozen sections and storage of supplies.
This was so the pathologists and residents would not be disturbed by
outside interferences.  We did a lot of frozens which gets hectic with
people in and out of the grossing area. The cryostats were lined up side by
side with some sort of ventilation to keep the heat down from the motors.
The solvent recyler was also in this room enclosed in an  AFOS ventilated
unit.

We saved money by having the cabinets electro-painted ( like cars
finishes).

There were two sets of frozen section staining dishes that were left
unventilated with a sink in between to keep the dishes for water rinses
clean. The vapor limits in that area did not require ventilation.

We did not ventilate the main sink because the gross stations had their own
which would have been taken care of by the down ventilation.

In the histology lab, the microwave was not under a hood.   I had the
coverslipping areas and special stain dishes under Shandon Hoods.  They are
not as cumbersome looking as some and won't suck you up. The filters are
easy to change.

Whatever you do make sure your safety/regulatory department is involved.

I never had the chance to see the fruits of my labor, but I understand it
turned out to be a state of the art grossing room. The rennovation was at
least $200,000.00 because of the ventilation to the outside.  This can be
very expensive depending on the building.

Rande Kline HT (ASCP)






"Kolman, Kim" <Kim.Kolman@med.va.gov> on 05/27/99 10:18:34 AM

To:   "'Histonet@Pathology.swmed.edu'" <Histonet@Pathology.swmed.edu>
cc:
Subject:  remodeling





     Hi fellow netters;

            It's great to have somewhere to go for help and advice; I've
learned alot from you all
            the last few months.

            Now I need some help myself.  Here's my dilemma:  We are in the
process of
            designing a new lab.  Histology/Cytology will be moved to
another floor that will
            be remodeled for us.  I am looking for a way to ventilate as
much equipment and
            processes as possible, without overkill and a lot of expense.
I
have a gross station
            that is ventilated and a cytoprep hood, I want to include a
sink
too.  Are new labs
            venting FS staining and cryostat?  I also need to cover manual
staining set-ups for
            H&E and PAP, microwave, and coverslipping.  Any suggestions for
a sensible and
            economical solution?  That's around 30 feet of bench space.  I
don't want to see
            wall to wall hoods, or have to wear lead-weighted shoes to keep
me from being
            sucked up into an exhaust system!   Any help is appreciated.



            Kim Kolman, HT (ASCP)
            VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System
            Eisenhower VA Medical Center
            Leavenworth, Kansas    66048
            (913) 682-2000 x 2537









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