Chapter 5 - Special Facilities

Question 1

What SHOULD the design of a surgical facility accommodate?

Answer 1

Species to be operated on and complexity of procedures.

Question 2

What is recommended for most survival surgery performed on rodents and other small species?

Answer 2

An animal procedure laboratory that is dedicated to surgery and related activities when used for this purpose, and managed to minimize contamination from other activities conducted in the room at other times.

Question 3

Why are centralized surgical facilities advantageous?

Answer 3

Cost-effective in equipment, conservation of space and personnel resources, reduced transit of animals, enhanced personnel safety and professional oversight of both facilities and procedures.

Question 4

For most programs, functional components of aseptic surgery include what five areas? How SHOULD these areas be designed? How can this be achieved?

Answer 4

Surgical support, animal preparation, surgeon’s scrub, operating room, and postoperative recovery. Designed to minimize traffic flow and separate the related non-surgical activities from the surgical procedure in the operating room. Achieved via physical barriers, but may also be achieved by distance between areas or timing of appropriate cleaning and disinfection between activities.

Question 5

Why SHOULD surgical facilities be separate from other areas? How can traffic in the OR be reduced?

Answer 5

Minimize unnecessary traffic and decrease the potential for contamination. Traffic reduced via installation of an observation window, a communication system, and judicious location of doors.

Question 6

What SHOULD be key considerations in the design of a surgical facility?

Answer 6

Control of contamination and ease of cleaning.

Question 7

What SHOULD interior surfaces of surgical areas be constructed of?

Answer 7

Monolithic materials that are impervious to moisture.

Question 8

What are three ways to reduced contamination in the OR?

Answer 8

Ventilation systems supplying positive-pressure filtered air, careful location of air supply and exhaust ducts, appropriate room ventilation rates.

Question 9

To facilitate cleaning, operating rooms SHOULD:

Answer 9

Have as little fixed equipment as possible.

Question 10

What SHOULD the surgical support area be designed for? What else is commonly placed here?

Answer 10

Washing and sterilizing instruments and storing instruments and supplies. Autoclaves

Question 11

What is a desirable feature in the animal preparation area?

Answer 11

Large sink to facilitate cleaning of the animal and the operating facilities.

Question 12

What SHOULD be available for staff?

Answer 12

Dressing area to change into surgical attire.

Question 13

What SHOULD the scrub area for surgeons be equipped with?

Answer 13

Foot, knee, or electric-eye surgical sinks.

Question 14

Why SHOULD the scrub area be outside the operating room and animal preparation area?

Answer 14

To minimize the potential for contamination of the surgical site by aerosols generated during scrubbing.

Question 15

What SHOULD a postoperative recovery area provide?

Answer 15

Physical environment to support needs of animal during period of anesthetic and immediate postsurgical recovery. Should be sited to allow adequate observation of animals.

Question 16

What SHOULD postoperative recovery caging be designed for?

Answer 16

Ease of cleaning and supporting physiologic functions.

Question 17

Although a postoperative recovery area for farm animals may be modified or nonexistent in some field situations, what precautions SHOULD be taken?

Answer 17

Minimize risk of injury to recovering animals.

Question 18

What mechanisms are typically implemented by barrier facilities?

Answer 18

Airlock or special entries, dedicated clothing and footwear or freshly laundered, sterile, or disposable outer garments. Feed and bedding are autoclaved or gamma-irradiated by supplier and decontaminated on entry. Water may be autoclaved or subject to specialized treatment. Caging and other materials may be sterilized after washing before reuse. Strict operating procedures. Only animals of defined health status received, and prohibited from re-entry once they leave without retesting. Personnel entry restricted with access limited to those who are appropriately trained,

Question 19

Why might shared animal imaging resources be preferable?

Answer 19

Expensive to acquire and maintain, may require specialized support space and highly trained personnel to operate

Question 20

What type of cross-contamination is possible via imaging resources? Why?

Answer 20

Between groups of animals, different species, or between animals and humans. Devices may be difficult to sanitize.

Question 21

What SHOULD occur if the imaging resource is located outside the animal facilities? If possible, animals SHOULD not be moved past which areas?

Answer 21

Appropriate transportation methods and routes SHOULD be developed to avoid inappropriate exposure to humans and animals in transit. Should not move past offices, lunch rooms, or public areas where animals are likely to be present.

Question 22

As imaging may require the subject to be immobile, what provisions SHOULD be made?

Answer 22

Provision for delivery of anesthetics and carrier gas, scavenging of waste anesthetic gas, and adequate animal monitoring.

Question 23

Why is remote storage of gas tanks generally required in facilities where magnetic resonance (MR) scanners are used?

Answer 23

Magnetic field requires ferrous materials to be kept a safe distance away from the magnet.

Question 24

Why does site selection of MR scanners require special attention?

Answer 24

Their weight, the fringe field generated, and the impact of ferrous elements of the building structure of its components, especially those that are not static (elevators) as they may affect field homogeneity.

Question 25

Why MUST rooms with MR scanners or in which cryogen gases are stored be equipped with oxygen sensors and a method for increasing room ventilation to exhaust inert gases during cryogen filling?

Answer 25

Cryogen boil-off can lead to asphyxiation of personnel and animals

Question 26

Are many imaging devices, especially those designed for small animals, self-contained and require no special physical plant considerations? Where SHOULD the operating console be located? How SHOULD imaging devices with components that are difficult to sanitize be handled?

Answer 26

Yes. Operating console should be located away from imaging devices that emit ionizing or magnetic radiation. Should be covered with a disposable or sanitizable material when not in use.

Question 27

How can be total body irradiation of small laboratory animals be accomplished?

Answer 27

Devices that emit gamma or X-rays.

Question 28

How are whole body irradiators typically designed? What does this impact?

Answer 28

Typically self-shielded. Due to weight of shielding material, may require special site considerations.

Question 29

Devices with gamma-emitting sources are subject to regulations that require:

Answer 29

Adherence to specific security, monitoring, and personnel clearance requirements.

Question 30

What SHOULD be taken into account when selecting the site for irradiators?

Answer 30

Whether they are to be used for animals and biologics, source and microbial status of animals to be irradiated.

Question 31

What are disadvantages of housing whole body irradiators in the animal facility?

Answer 31

Require access for personnel who would normally not require it and may necessitate bringing animals into a facility where they are not normally housed.

Question 32

What is the goal of containment? How is this accomplished?

Answer 32

Reduce of eliminate exposure of laboratory workers, other persons, and the outside environment to potential hazardous agents. Accomplished by employing practices and equipment, vaccinating personnel if a vaccine is available, and ensuring proper design and operation of physical plant.

Question 33

Each animal biosafety level represents a combination of:

Answer 33

Practices, safety equipment, and facilities based on risk of human infection.

Question 34

What becomes more important at each increasing ABSL? What text SHOULD be consulted for specific design and engineering requirements? Considerable care SHOULD be taken when selecting who?

Answer 34

Facility design, engineering criteria, construction methods and materials, commissioning, and validation. BMBL. The team responsible for design, engineering, construction, and commissioning of a containment facility.

Question 35

Guidelines have also been developed for containing:

Answer 35

Agricultural pathogens, recombinant DNA molecules, arthropod vectors, and hazardous chemicals.

Question 36

Facilities that use biologic agents and toxins must adhere to what regulations? What do these regulations stipulate?

Answer 36

APHIS, USDA, CDC Select Agent Regulations, and federal/state/local regulations. Institution must establish and adhere to strict security measures.

Question 37

What are facility features applicable to all hazards?

Answer 37

Isolation of animals and their waste, provision of sealed, monolithic room surfaces that do not promote dust accumulation and are easy to sanitize, increased air exchange rates to dilute environmental contamination if it occurs, air pressure differentials to ensure that areas containing hazards have negative pressure with regard to surrounding areas, specialized housing systems, appropriate safety equipment

Question 38

When planning a behavioral facility, special attention SHOULD be given to all aspects of the facility that might do what? The facility site SHOULD be selected to minimize what?

Answer 38

Inappropriately stimulate the sense of the test animals. Minimize airborne transmission of noise and groundborne transmission of vibration.

Question 39

Where may noise and vibration arise from?

Answer 39

Building’s structure, equipment, or human activities.

Question 40

What SHOULD guide the selection of construction materials, techniques, and equipment to minimize intrusions?

Answer 40

The frequencies and intensity of sound

Question 41

Attention SHOULD be given to what, especially in circadian studies?

Answer 41

Control of aberrant visual cues

Question 42

Why might double-door vestibule entries to the behavioral facility, testing suites, or individual testing rooms be useful?

Answer 42

Prevent noise, odors, and light from entering the behavioral testing area.

Question 43

What flooring SHOULD be selected for behavioral facilities? Why SHOULD consideration be given to the types and amount of electronics and other equipment used?

Answer 43

Reduce sound transmission. To ensure HVAC can accommodate the associated heat loads.

Question 44

How SHOULD testing equipment be designed? How SHOULD components that cannot be cleaned or disinfected be placed? What SHOULD be considered regarding space?

Answer 44

Allow surface disinfection between studies. Should be located in areas where contact with animals is unlikely and covered when not in use. Should consider provision of sufficient space for storage of behavioral apparatus and equipment.

Question 45

As transportation to and from the testing area may alter behavioral responses, consideration SHOULD be given to what?

Answer 45

Providing housing areas contiguous with those used for testing.

Question 46

What does the complexity of the aquatic life support system depend on?

Answer 46

Species housed and the size, type, and number of tanks and animals supported.

Question 47

Holding areas for aquatic species SHOULD be provided with what?

Answer 47

Drains of a suitable size and number to accommodate water released during system operation and maintenance or as a result of life support system or tank failure.

Question 48

Drains SHOULD not permit the passage of what?

Answer 48

Animals or hazardous materials into the sanitary system without appropriate treatment.

Question 49

What materials SHOULD be used for floors, walls, and ceilings? What SHOULD electrical receptacles or circuits be? What SHOULD metallic elements be made of?

Answer 49

Impervious to water, slip-resistant floors, and able to withstand the loads inherent with large quantities of water. Ground-fault interrupted. Moisture and corrosion-resistant materials.

Question 50

Housing systems, life support system components, and plumbing, including adhesives SHOULD be:

Answer 50

Constructed of nontoxic materials and biologically inert.

Question 51

If the macroenvironmental/room HVAC system is used as the primary method for tempering the aquatic environment, sufficient ventilation SHOULD be provided for what?

Answer 51

Prevent moisture buildup on room surfaces and maintain suitable temperatures for the species housed.

Question 52

Why SHOULD animal facility security be in place?

Answer 52

Domestic terrorism, animals are vulnerable to adventitious agents so only trained personnel with legitimate need should access, animals used in studies with hazardous agents require special precautions for personnel access and staff should have completed the institution’s OHSP

Question 53

Where SHOULD the animal facility be located? Describe vehicular access?

Answer 53

Should be located within another structure with its own independent set of security features. Vehicle access should be limited, controlled, and monitored.

Question 54

How are security and access control generally provided? What SHOULD determine the scope of the security system?

Answer 54

In zones. Size of facility and nature of activities.

Question 55

Describe microprocessor-controlled security systems. How can security be enhanced? (2)

Answer 55

Use electronic key or proximity cards and associated readers, which control access and enable recording of the time, location, and personal identification of each entry. Biometric reading devices, electronic and video surveillance systems.