Specimen Requirements

Call North Ottawa Community Hospital Laboratory Customer Service at 616-847-5381 to obtain Special Stool Collection Kits.

Specimen must arrive within 24 hours of collection.

Specimen Type: Stool

Container/Tube: 2 containers are required.

-Plain, screw-capped container

-Screw-capped container with Cary-Blair transport medium

Specimen Volume:  Fill to black arrow on container

Collection Instructions:

1. Label containers with patient’s name, date of birth, and date and time of collection.

2. Refrigerate specimen during collection.

Additional Information: Stools for culture or other testing should be submitted into the appropriate preservatives contained in our stool collection kits.  If it is not possible to obtain  collection kits prior to the stool collection, a clean, covered container is acceptable as long as it is refrigerated and transferred to preservative within 2 hours. 

REJECT: 

1.  Stools contaminated with urine or Barium.

2.  Stools that have sat out at room temp. for a period greater than 2 hours.

3.  With the exception of C. dificile testing, in-patient stool cultures should not be performed 3 days after hospitalization.

4.  No more than 2 bacteriology specimens and 3 parasitology specimens should be processed on all out-patients without consultation with the lab director.