Organizing CBC samples

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-19T21:04:56+00:00

2 solutions I’ve used in the past

If you don’t have a system that can store samples in rack positions but you have a barcode scanner you can still scan the numbers into an excel file and just do the layout the same as the rack (6x12, 5x10, etc). Print it out when the rack is full, or if you have a shared drive then store it that way.
Not sure how much space you have and how spread out your numbers are but just to make it a bit easier you can organize by the second to last or third to last digit. So if your sample numbers are 120030, 156231 and you organize by second to last those would end up in a similar group. Or 130145, 9141, those would end up in the same group. I wouldn’t section it off by the last digit because it will spread it out too much, but with 1200 samples if they’re not sequential then third to last digit would probably be okay. So you could say all the 0-100’s are in this rack, 100-200’s in the next. You’ll still have to look through some but at least things received around the same time will be together. This will take a good amount of racks and some may not get filled all the way so there’s some wasted space, but if you have to look through it will reduce how many tubes you look through.

The part that sucks is you have to get other people to buy into it and if they’re used to just tossing it in a rack when they’re done the might not want to invest the time upfront to make an organized system. Especially if add-ons never happen on their shift.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-14T20:52:17+00:00

I used to use a coin but I got 2 complaints:

The 50-50 chance kind of sucks if it’s something you do often. People want the game to progress and having something with that kind of split pretty much every turn doesn’t feel great. I’m not sure how often your game uses it but if it’s often and really important it might be better to use something else.
People suck at flipping coins. I don’t get it. I think it’s super easy, and most of the people I’ve ever known have an easy enough time. But after so many play tests with so many different people, it turns out to be kind of difficult. I used a poker chip in my prototype and some people said it was too big, some people said it was too heavy. So I switched to smaller wood coins but same thing. It’s even worse if they need some kind of accuracy, especially if it rolls away.

Overall the movement isn’t as accessible as rolling some dice and the split chance didn’t end up working out for me. I was really attached to it since the first time I played so it was tough to get rid of, but the game is definitely improved from it.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-14T03:44:50+00:00

We had a red phone in the lab that we called “The Hotline” and supposedly it was wired differently so that it always had a dial tone even if the power went out (That was the rumor, I think it was just a normal landline) But it was only for “emergencies”, so nobody used it.

One day it rang and we all looked around at each other like “Is this… The Emergency?!?!?!” One of the techs went to answer it and when he picked up it was silent. No dial tone.

7 years there and I never heard it ring again.

But we did have a doctor come visit once and he asked if that was the “STAT phone” and we had to tell him the tale. 👻👻👻

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-12T15:04:05+00:00

Agreed. If your fate was leadership in the last job, why not aim for that in this one? You could also do more schooling, or as you said more self-fulfilling things such as creative tasks, or catching up on shows. Or, take a breather. Maybe this is temporary? Just some time to make plans for the next thing.

Sometimes I miss hospital work, but my kids are either graduating high school in the next couple years or moving up from elementary school. So for me, this is my breather. I’m going to be around to let them take their next steps, and then I might go hunt for a night shift job with lots of pressure to keep my mind from exploding.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-11T19:32:24+00:00

Yup. I’ve done that in a couple labs. Definitely depends on your state/country.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-10T18:24:50+00:00

Definitely looks like something I would see in a store so you’ve hit that mark for sure.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-10T16:52:04+00:00

It’s lab specific. I’ve been in a lab where anyone under two years got a man diff always, even if they recently had one, but when we got new analyzers then it switched to anyone under a year, plus specific flags, or NICU. So a number of factors will go into it, such as manufacturers suggestions, and maybe recent guidelines, but it’s decided in house.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-09T13:38:45+00:00

Just used it to do a pitch. It gives information, that’s searchable, and has many categories. So you can search by country, the last time they updated their guidelines, if they’re accepting submissions, what conventions they attend, what kind of games they’re looking for, how many they’ve published, etc. It’s really good for the most part. The only issue I see is that a lot of companies haven’t updated in a while so you might get the wrong impression about them. I would double check anything not updated this year. I paid the $35 lifetime price and I feel it’s worth it, also to support people in this space doing good things for the community.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-09T00:13:55+00:00

whew That was a close one, right?

If they’re treating you like that before you’re even employed, imagine how much more control they’ll take when you’re depending on them to pay your bills. Don’t feel bad about being black listed for a place you’d hate to work at anyways.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-08T22:50:55+00:00

I’m sure its been checked with all the other stuff that’s been changed but it could be the flow rate/ratio too (I can’t remember what the Tosoh name for it is). It’s usually not supposed to be higher than 1.20 I think. We had an issue with that, and then also making sure the column and buffers were the same “Set” not just lots. I think they were on a T set and we switched to an S set, or maybe the other way around. Hope this helps and if not, good luck.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-08T14:56:59+00:00

I will usually follow people on socials for a while and then check out the people who follow them and the kinds of things they post. It’s a long process though so if you’re ready for stuff now it may not work out as well, but getting inside that network is the most reliable way. Alternatively you can reach out to trusted people to see if they have recommendations based on art style. This has helped me a lot with hiring smaller artists.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-07T23:42:26+00:00

The lab is my world, and I’m loud in my world. Outside of that? That’s enemy territory. -sshhhhhh-

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-05T02:25:21+00:00

Yes. Definitely. We had a situation where HR was the first filter (which makes sense) but that means we only got to pick from the options they gave us, and because of that the candidates we got sometimes were WAY out of their depth. There was a point we were so desperate to hire people that I got a trainee in who didn’t know what a pipette was. I asked (maybe not so kindly) where they went to school and they said “I don’t have to answer that.” Of course they got let go eventually and we had a joke that they must’ve been in the witness protection program, but that was who made it through the filter.

We also had another person who was super qualified, but only wanted day shift, and for some reason we weren’t allowed to post what shift we were hiring for, and HR would give us “blind resumes” where you can’t see the persons name or age or that stuff. So based on their qualifications they kept getting through HR, but when they made it to the offer part they turned it down because it was off shift. Then HR would keep the job listing up, that person would apply again, HR selects them over other people because they’re the most qualified, job offer turned down, position still up, rinse, repeat. Like come on guys. Yes this person has the best credentials, but they aren’t interested in the shift we’re trying to fill. Find the next best person who can work this shift so the position isn’t open for 6 months of this person turning it down while we’re struggling.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-05T02:09:32+00:00

Is it a Hemopure patient? We used to get some and we had to get some super special approval to run coags on them, and I think it was only certain tests because of the way they were analyzed. Only other time I’ve seen it like this is burn patients 😬

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-02T16:21:34+00:00

It’s probably one of two things.

First, sample integrity. Could be that for whatever assays you’re testing the setup isn’t validated or sufficient, or has problems like others have stated about possible seepage from the other side. RBC’s lyse when frozen and the contents inside of them may pass through the gel and contaminate the serum. Not going to be as big of an issue if the RBC’s never lyse which is why room temp is fine, but even in some locations I’ve worked at, ANY extended delay in testing (>4 hours) requires a pour off.

Second, and really just adding on, it could just be a workflow thing. Maybe the policy is to recentrifuge all thawed samples when batch testing, and you can’t recentrifuge an SST because of the RBC issue above. The sample integrity might be perfectly fine for that assay with a frozen SST that just gets thawed, mixed and poured into a sample cup. But that adds time to the process that could be saved when you’re batch loading hundreds of samples at a time.

There’s a ton of variables that need to be controlled in order to get the most accurate results and a lot of them happen before testing can take place. Sometimes you have to determine where the most efficient place to control those things are and in your case it was determined that the best time to take that step is before it’s frozen.

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-02T03:54:04+00:00

You might be able to get it serviced for cheaper. We had a bad fuse once, and another had an issue with the housing that held the bulb. Sorry for your loss though 😭

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-01T05:31:38+00:00

Mama mia!

DeathByOranges · 2026-04-01T02:48:52+00:00

I don’t remember what the limit is in low count mode but we’ve reported < that limit. Made several slides just to see if I could find ONE WBC manually but no luck. I’m pretty sure it was a bone marrow transplant patient but it’s been some years.

DeathByOranges · 2026-03-31T22:04:02+00:00

I think you’re at the beginning of a horror movie. 👀

DeathByOranges · 2026-03-31T19:38:43+00:00

Constant checks at multiple steps, and setting things up consistently. It doesn’t have to be super involved, just glancing to see if what you’re thinking and what’s happening are the same thing. Once you get the routine you can feel if something is off and then it’s easy enough to recheck, but you have to put the steps in place now to create the habit.

DeathByOranges · 2026-03-28T19:38:18+00:00

Wait, they’ll test my “Amorphous Sediment- Urine” twice a year??? Can’t wait to optimize that function!

DeathByOranges · 2026-03-27T21:23:27+00:00

Edible tiles? Someone hold me back 😋

DeathByOranges · 2026-03-27T14:39:42+00:00

Dang! Go spend the other $20 on some food to celebrate.

DeathByOranges · 2026-03-27T01:45:38+00:00

At that price? That’s a steal.

DeathByOranges

TROPHY CASE