Thursday, October 23, 2008

Types of lab coats and why you should use one

By Zoe Sharon

Any doctor, nurse, surgeon or support staff that is working in a medical institution will immediately tell you that your lab coat is a vital part of your daily work. Especially if you are a researcher dealing with highly toxic chemicals that are being experimented with, you will find that your lab coat is an extremely fundamental component that is used to protect you from any accidents that might occur during your course of work.

Even though the common perception of lab coats is that it must be white, you will be surprised to know that today, lab coats come in many different colors. One main reason for this being so, is for the purpose of identification. With different colored lab coats being assigned to different staff, the identification of the many roles that each staff plays becomes much easier.

In most medical institutions, you will find that doctors normally get issued white lab coats, whereas other support staffs such as nurses get issued lab coats that are either green or blue. Though this is common in most medical institutions, there are no fixed guidelines and the choice of color per department, is entirely up to the medical institution's decision.

Apart from the many different colored lab coats available today, there are also many different types of lab coats being sold and distributed. Ranging from lab coats made of cotton, to polypropylene coats and even disposable ones, you can be sure of finding a lab coat that will be suitable to your specific requirements.

It is common practice for medical practitioners to take off their lab coats if it has gone through too much contamination, and even send it immediately to a specialized cleaning company that has the equipment to remove toxic substances from your contaminated lab coat. This is practice is very significant, as it prevents anyone from getting hurt as a result of exposure to the chemical substances that your lab coat might be stained with.

Should the amount of chemical contamination exceed acceptable levels, you would have no choice but to throw your lab coat away. If you have to do this, you will need to ensure that your lab coat is properly disposed of, as it should not be mixed with the rest of the trash.

To ensure that you are well protected from any accident concerning chemicals that might be harmful to you, you should always remember to wear your lab coat properly and at all times. To check if you are doing so, you will need to make sure that all buttons and zippers are well utilized and you have your arms covered by your entire coat sleeve.

These are just some of things that you might want to take note of, concerning lab coats. Even though a lab coat might seem like a simple item, it plays a very important role concerning your safety, and should be used at all times necessary. - 15634

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