Hello! I work at the VA Hospital in the EM department. Currently we clean our thick sections off of our glass knives with canned air. We also dry our diamond knives off in between different patient samples with the canned air. We are having some difficulty ordering this canned air due to safety issues. Our GEMS staff has suggested trying a canless air system. I have a few concerns and was wondering what everyone else uses and if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks so much! Heidi

Currently, we use Caulfield's solution as our fixative while microwave processing our samples. In Caulfield's Buffer Stock A, we use sodium barbital and sodium acetate 3H20. We are finally running low on sodium barbital (last container is from 2010) and I am in the process of ordering more. Since it is a controlled substance, I was asked to see if there are any substitutions. I was wondering what other options, if any, are out there. I am fairly new to the EM world, so I am learning along the way. Any information would be very helpful! Thanks much!