FEASIBILITY OF EUROPE-WIDE SPECIMEN SHIPMENTS

The ability of 12 courier companies to ship specimens from random locations throughout Europe to a Brussels-based central laboratory has been evaluated. Two of these companies have been enrolled in a shipment validation trial. This trial encompassed 193 specimen shipments from 41 locations in 19 different countries. Approximately one third of these shipments involved contaminated specimens. The average turn around time (TAT) for both noncontaminated samples and contaminated samples was approximately 21 hours for Carrier 1 and approximately 18 hours for Carrier 2. There were no samples lost in transit.The study shows that specimen transport from random locations, covering most of Europe, is feasible with a maximum TAT of 24 hours for more than 95% of all shipments. It is difficult, however, to find carriers which can comply with the applicable regulations, offering global coverage as well as effective tracking services. Moreover, careful guidance of the process by specialized staff remains a necessity.