Shipping

If you have a Mayo-provided courier service and you have prepared the specimens according to the instructions in this section, your specimens are ready for transport.

If you will ship your specimens directly to Mayo Medical Laboratories using FedEx® or other air carrier, we recommend the following:

• Separate the specimens by temperature
• Pack frozen specimens in yellow bags, refrigerated specimens in pink bags, and ambient specimens in white bags

The styrofoam transportation coolers (“Styros”) provided by Mayo Medical Laboratories have corresponding color-coded labels.

External packing boxes are raspberry-colored and contain appropriate labeling for dry ice and biohazards.

Frozen

Place a layer of pellet dry ice (or block dry ice broken into small pieces) in the bottom of a Styro, insert the yellow bags and cover them with more dry ice. Under normal conditions, five pounds, or 2.2 kilograms of dry ice will keep the specimens frozen until they arrive at our laboratory. Place the yellow-labeled Frozen cover onto the Styro.

Refrigerated

Place a cold cool-pack brick in the bottom of a Styro, place 3-4 paper towels (for insulation) over the brick and insert the pink bags.

Ambient

Use the same refrigerated Styro, but place 3-4 more paper towels over the top of the pink bags (for further insulation) and insert the white bags. Fill the remaining space inside the Styro with packing material such as paper towels or newspapers. During the months of November-March, also place a non-refrigerated cool-pack brick at the top of the Styro. Please see the two diagrams that immediately follow this page for season-specific instructions. When the appropriate packing instructions have been followed, place the pink- and white-labeled cover onto the Styro.

Place the Styro(s) into the appropriate-sized Mayo Medical Laboratories raspberry-colored box and tape the lid shut. This box is ready for air transport to Mayo Medical Laboratories.

Packing Critical Ambient Specimens

Mayo Medical Laboratories provides a special container for critical ambient specimens such as bone marrow and some whole blood specimens that would be ruined if allowed to get too cold.

Use the 10-lb Styro inside a white fibreboard box (T668) to ship these critical ambients. Surround the specimens with the six room-temperature cool packs provided.

Packing Muscle Biopsy Specimens

Mayo Medical Laboratories provides a Muscle Biopsy Kit (T541) for muscle biopsy specimens. Use the special 10-lb Styro to ship biopsies in the small container provided, surrounded by dry ice.

Packing Examples

Refrigerate/Ambient Shipping Container-November through March

Refrigerate/Ambient Shipping Container-April through October

Frozen Cool-Pack keeps samples from becoming too warm in transit

Reminder - Do not use dry ice to freeze the coolpack; if that is your only option, then remove it from the dry ice 3 hours before use.

Shipping Document Examples

Airbill

For every shipment you make, you must fill out an airbill.

Shipper's Declaration for Dangerous Goods

Infectious Substance External Box

To ship Category A Infectious Substances, use the Infectious Shipper box (T570), pictured here with the Infectious Container (T146).