A tough week

I'm now working as a prac lab technician in Dept of Physiology, Monash University. In fact, it seems not only a technician job but also an organiser. Because I have to organise and make pracs run smoothly.

Alright, this week is quite tough because we had a Med lung function prac on Tuesday morning, rabbit ileum prac, as well as taste and touch prac in the afternoon. Additionally, Female Reproduction II prac was held on Thursday and today. Problems ran into Med lung function as we didn't have this prac last year and no one knew how to set things up. This prac was dealing with figuring out the total lung capacity (TLC) using He dilution method which involved the use of a spirometer, connected to a MacLab, helium and oxygen. Also, we have TLCO, a test that measures the diffusing capacity of the lung using carbon monoxide, which requires a special mixture of gases (He/CO), and a special analyser (which seems that no one know how to use it :P). To make this prac running, we needed to prepare things before hand by ordering that special gas (express service, ~$200 added) and trying to get somebody who is familiar with the analyser to set it up but we had no any luck. However, everything ran quite smoothly as the instructors (or lecturers) from The Alfred seem to know how to operate those things. Everything was relieved...

Today, when I cleaned things up and brought down the gas cylinder to its storage, guess what! I found the He/CO from the past year... And 17,000 kPa of gas is still left in there!! Alright, just keep this under the carpet :P At least, we already have 2 cylinders of the special gas so we need not to order it for a long time in the future (if this prac still persist).

That's the end of this tough week...