Help ensure proper specimen transport
Specimen integrity is of great importance within the DLO Logistics department. You can help ensure specimen viability in the transport process is successful by performing these proper storage procedures in DLO lock boxes.
Ambient, refrigerated, and frozen specimens must be segregated. If you need additional lock box capacity to allow for complete segregation, please contact DLO at (800) 891-2917, option 3.
Ambient
Place ambient specimens farthest away from any cold packs.
If there are specimen tubes requiring different temperature states within a single patient sample collection, place each specimen tube in a separate specimen bag with a copy of the ordering requisition. This will facilitate those tubes being placed in the correct areas of the lock box.
Do not put ambient specimens on top of refrigerated specimens.
Refrigerated
When placing a refrigerated specimen inside the lock box, use a cold pack and place refrigerated specimen directly on the cold pack either by:
- Rubber banding specimen to the cold pack
- Placing specimen in a separate bag with the cold pack
Do not put refrigerated specimens in the frozen tote bag.
Frozen
Frozen specimens should be placed inside a frozen tote container to allow them to remain frozen while in the lock box. Make sure the specimen is completely frozen before placing it inside the frozen container.
Remember to take the frozen tote out of the lock box in the morning to refreeze the gelpacks before reusing. Freeze only the gel packs, not the entire tote.
CLIA