Out in the open

So I get off the elevator in a hospital the other day and as I start walking down the hallway I see a large desk with numerous sealed containers of bodily fluid. Some were cups of urine, other were vials of blood, and others were who knows what. Some of the specimens were inside plastic bags. This is not the first time I have seen this at this particular hospital. And it’s not like I am on some secret floor or something. This is a patient floor we are talking about so both the general public and hospital staff are walking by all the time.

How on Earth is it acceptable to leave vials of bodily fluids out in the open? First of all, what’s stopping someone from causing mischief and stealing the containers or switching them around? What if someone knocks into it and it falls on the floor? Now you have potentially infectious material spread out in the open. At least these containers were on a high counter so at small child could not reach it. Needless to say, I will be issuing a complaint about this. We’ll see what happens.