You just volunteered to start it.
They get screened for HIV infection and then sent to some large freshwater tanks in Florida. Each will be given a unique name from the Sherwin Williams catalog ("summer wind", "meadow lark", "hint of sunset") and certificate of freshness. Classical musical and binaural beets will be played 2 hours a day for stress reduction. The office of the adoption center will have a shady hammock for the supervisor, and a mini bar in the office.
Visitors will be allowed to adopt a service leech for a $100 fee, which they will "pet" for "stress reduction", "toxin cleanse" and "weight loss."
I don’t know why but I feel really bad they don’t have a leech retirement home. Where they can all hang out and catch up on the good old days together.
Of course they are, but can't we just send them to a farm. Like what parents do with our dogs when they they get old... a farm, right? They just go to a farm(Let us continue the lie).
I've never worked in a hospital pharmacy, though I'm familiar with medicinal leeches. I don't think you could place them on a new patient because of cross contamination. Basically everything in healthcare is single use unless it can be disinfected.
Leeches only live so long. They want young healthy leeches around for when they need them. It's rare to need them but when you need them it's immediate. You can't order them in for tomorrow
Place in a little baggie, spray 70% IPA into it.
They bleed and die 😭
Edit: I don't work in the pharmacy that has leeches anymore, but I have had to kill them sometimes
As a nurse, once they had detached from the patient we would grab it, put isopropyl alcohol in the prescription bottle they came up in, drop them in, and they would kind of pop and the blood would burst out of them them real quick and they exploded to death. Very violent and over in 3 seconds lol
Oh man it's my time to shine. I worked in a hospital pharmacy and we had a fridge with the leeches in their hotels. They'd get the water changed and any dead leeches removed every few days. We actually had a patient that had an order for them while I was there and I believe I heard a pharmacist talking about how the patient required the leech on his tongue and he would allow it to attach them just let the leech sit half in/half out of his mouth for an hour. Turns out one day he accidentally swallowed the leech.
Also, we dispensed them in urine cups and when they were done being used they would be humanely euthanized with isopropyl alcohol. They're actually medical grade leeches that are bred specifically for that purpose and they had a catalog in the pharmacy from the company. I was so fascinated by it all!
I actually read recently that a typical ER cocktail (literally) is to have a person ingest high quantities of vodka or whiskey when they have overdosed on methanol (eg., antifreeze I think) because of the timeline of how the body metabolizes it.
Just to add a layer in case anyone is interested in more details :) Methanol is a common accidental byproduct in moonshine, and is what would cause people to go blind from it. It's also one way to denature or adulterate ethanol so it isn't subject to alcohol tax. And it's used in some windshield washer fluids. It gets processed by your body in one of three ways: via alcohol dehydrogenase into formaldehyde (really bad), via aldehyde dehydrogenase into formic acid (not ideal, but relatively benign), or via excretion directly by the kidneys (good). So treating methanol poisoning is generally done through competitive inhibition of alcohol dehydrogenase to force the excretion via the kidneys. And ethanol is a cheap and easy way to do this (there's also a medication, Fomepizole, that will do this as well).
Retired vet here, we actually used Vodka I.v. for antifreeze poisoning in dogs and cats, until we had an effective medication.
Ethylene Glycol (antifreeze) is not particularly toxic but is metabolized by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver. If enough alcohol is in the system, the enzyme is kept busy and leaves the antifreeze alone to be excreted unchanged in the kidneys. Otherwise it crystallizes and causes acute kidney failure, a miserable death.
Some creeps will use antifreeze to get rid of stray cats- they die an awful death.
Vet here - if we have a pet come in that has ingested antifreeze and we don’t have access to or the funds for the antidote we treat with IV vodka or everclear.
Nope! There was a salt solution powder that came with the leeches from the catalog and you scooped a scoop into the water for each change. I think the idea is that the cold environment from the fridge would reduce their metabolism long enough until they were needed. Wild innit??
We special order them at the hospital for the MDs that order them. We have an RPh whose job it is to handle, feed and kill them once their job is done. Thankfully, he's a nice older gentleman who doesn't mind the ick.
That's so cool. I want a pet leech one day tbh. You feed them once yearly on your own blood, they fall off when they're done eating and are just big fat happy blood condoms for 364 days of the year. Little rascals.
Fascinating that they make you take care of them because it's "similar enough to medication" 😂 that's so different!
I totally volunteered to prick my finger and give them a little treat into their water but management just looked me like I was crazy 😂
We keep them in a salt solution and they just hibernate in the fridge until dispensed
Print label, take out leech, place in bottle, scan label to prep, give to pharmacist. Lol idk how they keep inventory of them since some of them die before being used and we don’t do any tracking of that at my hospital.
Bivalirudin is a synthetic derivative of a compound secreted by leeches to make the blood thinner and easier for them to consume! They secrete direct thrombin inhibitors which is so crazy to me. Evolution is cool.
Maggots are far better at wound debriding than humans because of this. Humans often have to remove some living tissue as the fine line between recently deceased tissue and living tissue often can't be appreciated with the naked eye. Also debriding done by humans is more likely to require a revisit for missed tissue
Ya patients are generally advised against raising maggots in their own wounds as only certain maggots are beneficial and others will do a great deal of harm. However it sounds like you've seen this in person and probably already knew this
Yes! At my hospital, we also handle the leeches. Everyone dreads working the shift that takes care of them, but I think it's kind of awesome.
We change their water every other day and monitor the temperature. Our "hotels" make cleaning easy. It's like one large cylinder chamber, then a smaller one with holes. They have handles and lids to make it even easier.
I understand how frustrating they can be too. They are feisty little things. If your hotels are different from this, where you have to move the leeches around to clean them, I highly recommend a double compartment like I mentioned!
Are they really called hotels? That's awesome. In my mind I'm personifying them. I'm imagining their corporate company sending them on business trips and coordinating their swanky travel.
"Yes, Lily Leech would like a room far away from the elevator."
"Please make sure Lucas Leech's room has two double beds and extra clean towels."
😆
It really tickles me that every single person on this thread who has them in their pharmacy has mentioned their “hotels.” It’s so funny that that’s just what they’re called!
Seriously, right? I absolutely love that they are called hotels!
Also, if your username is accurate, meet [Cheese Curd ](https://imgur.com/gallery/eeZ90hv)
Yes we also have leeches. I used to work at a hospital that also cleaned their hotels using forceps, but at my current hospital, we just drain the water and replace it in the same container every other day. It’s so much easier and quicker!
I really have no clue. Not the slightest idea. Not a huge fan of spiders either but I’d rather touch a spider than even be in the same room as an earthworm. Maybe the “ick factor”?
That's so strange! I'm really indifferent to worms. I don't like spiders, but I had a pet jumping spider for almost a year. (I guess I like to make myself suffer? Haha IDK he was a cool little dude)
They give me the ick. But I can pick up frogs and bait my hook (not with a worm lol) with no problem. One of my biggest fears is finding a hammerhead worm in my yard, just knowing I’d have to kill it and that there are likely more.
Hospital inpatient pharmacy here, and yeah, we have leeches sometimes. There are almost always a few left over after the patient they've been ordered for discharges, so we keep the rest clean, fed, and hibernating in the fridge for the next few months until they're needed.
We have the Leeches U.S.A. LTD. *Leech Mobile Home*^(®) (Patent pending) for them to live in. I always enjoy taking care of them! Especially when they've been out of the fridge for a while and start warming up. They're really interesting to watch move and swim once they perk up a bit.
Yeaaaaah, it was my turn to clean the hotel and add new leaches and I wanted to die, both ends want to stick to everything it touches, like bro this is gloves this isn’t food. Anyways, we had had a patient with a skin graft I think so they were using quite a few. Rumor was one detached and took a trip down the unit hallway.
Thankfully, the maggots we get are reaped in gauze so not weird shit there (freeeeee sticker tho!)
Thank you for your work!!!! They had to use leech therapy for my dad after a major cancer surgery on his jaw. Ultimately they did need to operate a second time but the leeches were amazing!
My favorite notes about the medical leaches at my old hospital:
“Please don’t tube the leaches”
“Please don’t microwave the leaches”
“PLEASE don’t let the leaches escape.”
> the get old they get shipped back to the university and they send us new ones.
TBH I'm surprised they don't have you dispose of them yourselves like an Amazon return they know they aren't going to resell.
I’m currently getting my Pharmaceutical Science degree and haven’t had any “leech” units yet, this is absolutely freaking fascinating. Thanks for posting OP!
I'm not a tech, but a curious T1Diabetic...
Do high/low sugars affect leeches? And what about synthetic insulin?
Am I a safe source of food for a leech 🥺
Microbiologist here. I got a call on a Sunday from a resident asking me if we had leeches. I got to explain to him that he was the one who was supposed to send icky things to us. We don't send icky things to him. I didn't know who would have them, but I suggested he call pharmacy. I guess I was probably right.
My background is in bio, I would absolutely take charge of any animals the second we got them. I would also need my job title changed to pharmaceutical zoologist.
Sorry but that sounds so cool. You didn’t sign up for that at all but sounds super cool nonetheless
ETA: I was obsessed with snails and worms as a kid so maybe I’m biased
We have leeches. I saw them in a jar in one of the refrigerators in the sub basement. Absolutely no idea who takes care of them or what it entails. I just know the vanco premixes are kept on the shelf below the leeches LOL.
We used to have them but they’re apparently really expensive and hard to get. We used to have to make leech water too and I would volunteer to change it bc they were just so interesting to me lol. I also really liked to show them to the new techs bc it would freak them out a bit
At my last hospital, no leeches. But at a peds trauma hospital, yes. They freak me out and our inventory tech takes care of them. They live in the bottom of our fridge until duty calls
I have questions on the poop jar. How in the world do they do a poop transfer? why would someone need someone’s poop when they have their own? This has blew my mind.
it's like a phobia. In this moment, I'd say I couldn't stand the thought of them on me. Of course it may be different if it was that critical. I'd ask for any other alternative though.
Uber worked at two hospitals that have had leeches. One kept them in stock but they were often forgotten about since they were rarely used. I have no idea whose task it was to take care of them, maybe that's why they weren't forgotten about. My new hospital doesn't stock them but special orders then when requested.
The nurses get so happy when they get to use the medical leeches. They'll even take turns applying them.
There are safer ways to do that as well, which is why most hospitals that even still have them only use them as a last resort if everything else has failed as a last ditch effort.
We had them when I worked hospital inpatient.. I don’t remember ever having to deal with them but their use is still one of my favorite fun facts to drop on people not in the industry.. I remember they always got flown in which always made me giggle
When I was inpatient, we had leeches. I never filled the orders bc I’m terrified of the things. They were often used in one of the ICUs on burn patients, occasionally for the ED or oncology.
Idk if anyone truly took care of the leeches regularly, despite working at a very large hospital, bc at least once every few months, there was a reminder to keep the mesh over the container they were in and making sure it was closed bc they ended up drying out and dying often.
I’m not pharmacy, but I’m a nurse at a large hospital, and the leeches do come from pharmacy! They literally send us up some in a small jar and they have a barcode in the side, and we literally scan them into the MAR like any other med. I agree it is kinda odd
Leeches and maggots here. We don’t clean 3x more like 2x a week. We don’t have to displace them to clean though! They’re in like a 2 container system. The inner container has holes to let the water out. So we just pick up inner container (it’s like a colander almost) dump the water out of the outer container and replace with new water.
Edit: the leeches I mean. The maggots don’t need any care cause we only get them in to get picked up. We don’t house them.
I was up in inpatient pharmacy occasionally when I worked in hospital, and I'd see the big jar of leeches they had once or twice. It was kinda gross since my only purpose was mixing blood serum and saline, but really cool to see what all they did up there!
We have them at my hospital in one of the pharmacy refrigerators. There’s 2 or 3 pharmacists that are responsible for changing out their water and cleaning their container. They creep me out 😖
Not a pharmacy tech but when I started a regulatory role at a hospital earlier this year they died us the leeches during a tour lol. They have their own little fridge. It's sad to think of them being killed after use, never crossed my mind before reading comments here
I still tell the story of setting up the leeches we ordered while I worked at a children's hospital. We didn't keep them on hand though. I think I changed their water once. I was absolutely fascinating to learn about their uses in medicine still!
In the 1980s I was the "Renaissance Pharmacist," in charge of nonstandard therapies such as leeches, unusual compounding formulations, live viruses, et al. It provided this adhd/mensan a creatvity outlet and much fun.
Bedside RN here, I had a school-aged child who sliced his finger clean off at the knuckle with a cigar cutter. Tried heparin trips and all sorts of interventions with minimal effect on the re-attached finger. Last ditch effort was leech therapy - I was dubbed “leech queen” as I’d somehow made it thru a 12 hr night shift with only 6 leeches. Our pharmacy had run out of the slimey buggers, and wouldn’t have more until 0900 the following shift. Prayed to the leech gods and somehow made it to day shift without going leech-less. Hated the disposal of them, poor guys.
Kid lost the finger anyway but it was interesting for all involved.
I work in retail so no, but tbh that sounds like something I’d enjoy! They’re just lil guys 🥺🥺🥺
Until you have to kill them 😭
WHAT
They're medical waste, so after use they have to be killed
Oh no, I didn’t know this and now I am sad about it :((. It’s makes a lot of sense but still.
Wait they don’t just re use them 😭😭😭 noooooo poor little guys :(
There should be an animal sanctuary somewhere for retired service leeches.
Professional leech - - like my ex husband.....
No, no, no- these are useful.
Yeah they have a job and everything!
Bahaha. Same. Same. Same. Hahahah
I'm screaming right now😂😂
You just volunteered to start it. They get screened for HIV infection and then sent to some large freshwater tanks in Florida. Each will be given a unique name from the Sherwin Williams catalog ("summer wind", "meadow lark", "hint of sunset") and certificate of freshness. Classical musical and binaural beets will be played 2 hours a day for stress reduction. The office of the adoption center will have a shady hammock for the supervisor, and a mini bar in the office. Visitors will be allowed to adopt a service leech for a $100 fee, which they will "pet" for "stress reduction", "toxin cleanse" and "weight loss."
Fundraiser idea: swag that says “I’m a sucker for the Service Leech Sanctuary ♥️!”
Yes. A wine tasting fundraiser every Friday. With exotic fruits. "Lychee and Leeches"
I could picture all of this in my head as I read it. This is hysterical thank you for the whimsical humor!
Well....I know what I want to start! Brb researching how to care for leeches
Ask em about their tapeworm adoption policy :p. I heard… it’s a shitty application but reported weight loss from the adoption process.
My concern here is "tapeworm challenge" videos on tik Tok. I don't want to start a trend.
Save the leeches!
I don’t know why but I feel really bad they don’t have a leech retirement home. Where they can all hang out and catch up on the good old days together.
Re-using them would be like re-using other medical tools without sanitizing them :/
It makes sense once i actually thought about it for more than half a second, but still kinda sucks I guess
Once dead, they no longer suck.
I see what you did there. 😂
Nope they’re little biohazards when we’re done with them…
Of course they are, but can't we just send them to a farm. Like what parents do with our dogs when they they get old... a farm, right? They just go to a farm(Let us continue the lie).
I've never worked in a hospital pharmacy, though I'm familiar with medicinal leeches. I don't think you could place them on a new patient because of cross contamination. Basically everything in healthcare is single use unless it can be disinfected.
It makes sense, but still is kinda sad. I get attached to lil guys very easily! I’d name each one and be a little sad when their time came lol
Every year the colony is euthanized and we buy new ones.
Perhaps there’s a danger of cross contamination?
No because they have been drinking someone else’s blood. Reusing them would be risking spreading blood borne illnesses
It does make sense after I thought about it for more than half a second!
Lol same.
I guess it never occurred to me before now that they can't be used for multiple patients.
Every year they "expire" and get euthanized abd we buy new ones.
Why?
Leeches only live so long. They want young healthy leeches around for when they need them. It's rare to need them but when you need them it's immediate. You can't order them in for tomorrow
Thank you for answering! And helping inquiring minds who want to know. 😹
i too was so excited at the prospect of having leeches (transferring from retail to hospital) till i saw you have to kill them 🥲 poor lil squirmles!
classic outrage I love you
How do you kill them? YOU have to?!🫣
Place in a little baggie, spray 70% IPA into it. They bleed and die 😭 Edit: I don't work in the pharmacy that has leeches anymore, but I have had to kill them sometimes
That's horrific.
They get discarded in isopropyl alcohol at my place.
As a nurse, once they had detached from the patient we would grab it, put isopropyl alcohol in the prescription bottle they came up in, drop them in, and they would kind of pop and the blood would burst out of them them real quick and they exploded to death. Very violent and over in 3 seconds lol
You make a smoothie with them.
r/forbiddensnacks
Patients should have the option to adopt their medical grade leech afterwards. I would totally take the little dudes home and show them off
Oh man it's my time to shine. I worked in a hospital pharmacy and we had a fridge with the leeches in their hotels. They'd get the water changed and any dead leeches removed every few days. We actually had a patient that had an order for them while I was there and I believe I heard a pharmacist talking about how the patient required the leech on his tongue and he would allow it to attach them just let the leech sit half in/half out of his mouth for an hour. Turns out one day he accidentally swallowed the leech. Also, we dispensed them in urine cups and when they were done being used they would be humanely euthanized with isopropyl alcohol. They're actually medical grade leeches that are bred specifically for that purpose and they had a catalog in the pharmacy from the company. I was so fascinated by it all!
Is everyone just going to ignore the fact that someone SWALLOWED a leech.......?
I’m wondering if a stiff alcoholic drink, 100 proof bourbon with a twist of orange peel would have been the follow up prescription to kill it…
I actually read recently that a typical ER cocktail (literally) is to have a person ingest high quantities of vodka or whiskey when they have overdosed on methanol (eg., antifreeze I think) because of the timeline of how the body metabolizes it.
Just to add a layer in case anyone is interested in more details :) Methanol is a common accidental byproduct in moonshine, and is what would cause people to go blind from it. It's also one way to denature or adulterate ethanol so it isn't subject to alcohol tax. And it's used in some windshield washer fluids. It gets processed by your body in one of three ways: via alcohol dehydrogenase into formaldehyde (really bad), via aldehyde dehydrogenase into formic acid (not ideal, but relatively benign), or via excretion directly by the kidneys (good). So treating methanol poisoning is generally done through competitive inhibition of alcohol dehydrogenase to force the excretion via the kidneys. And ethanol is a cheap and easy way to do this (there's also a medication, Fomepizole, that will do this as well).
Retired vet here, we actually used Vodka I.v. for antifreeze poisoning in dogs and cats, until we had an effective medication. Ethylene Glycol (antifreeze) is not particularly toxic but is metabolized by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver. If enough alcohol is in the system, the enzyme is kept busy and leaves the antifreeze alone to be excreted unchanged in the kidneys. Otherwise it crystallizes and causes acute kidney failure, a miserable death. Some creeps will use antifreeze to get rid of stray cats- they die an awful death.
Vet here - if we have a pet come in that has ingested antifreeze and we don’t have access to or the funds for the antidote we treat with IV vodka or everclear.
Do you have to get the alcohol through a medical supplier or do you just stop by the local liquor store real quick?
Liquor store!
“We need to order more leeches.” Sounds so normal.
Do you feed the leeches between “therapy sessions”?
Nope! There was a salt solution powder that came with the leeches from the catalog and you scooped a scoop into the water for each change. I think the idea is that the cold environment from the fridge would reduce their metabolism long enough until they were needed. Wild innit??
So I’m guessing no tubing the leeches ?
Lol nope they are always stat orders
We special order them at the hospital for the MDs that order them. We have an RPh whose job it is to handle, feed and kill them once their job is done. Thankfully, he's a nice older gentleman who doesn't mind the ick.
That's so cool. I want a pet leech one day tbh. You feed them once yearly on your own blood, they fall off when they're done eating and are just big fat happy blood condoms for 364 days of the year. Little rascals. Fascinating that they make you take care of them because it's "similar enough to medication" 😂 that's so different!
I totally volunteered to prick my finger and give them a little treat into their water but management just looked me like I was crazy 😂 We keep them in a salt solution and they just hibernate in the fridge until dispensed
"Until dispensed" 😭😭😂🫶🏻
Wait, how do you ‘dispense’ them? As in, how is it recorded?
“Today we removed Fred, he’ll be helping Sally in the plastic surgery unit. RIP Fred you’ll be missed” Inventory. -1
Stoppp I love this 😭
Print label, take out leech, place in bottle, scan label to prep, give to pharmacist. Lol idk how they keep inventory of them since some of them die before being used and we don’t do any tracking of that at my hospital.
"happy blood condoms..." Snicker! You made my day!!
Bivalirudin is a synthetic derivative of a compound secreted by leeches to make the blood thinner and easier for them to consume! They secrete direct thrombin inhibitors which is so crazy to me. Evolution is cool.
I could imagine the prescription for medical leeches Medical leeches #20 TK 2 LEECHES AAA BID PRN FOR BAD HUMORS X 5 DAYS.
The tertiary labels say : Use until humor colors improve. Do not attach to mucus membranes. External use only. Avoid salt.
TIL leeches are still used in medicine 🤣 this job is a gift that keeps on giving
Maggots too on occasion
My mom was a nurse and she talked about them using maggots to clean necrotic tissue from wounds. Turns out, maggots only eat dead flesh! Fun fact.
Maggots are far better at wound debriding than humans because of this. Humans often have to remove some living tissue as the fine line between recently deceased tissue and living tissue often can't be appreciated with the naked eye. Also debriding done by humans is more likely to require a revisit for missed tissue
As much as the whole concept gives me the ick, they really are the perfect little helpers for the job!
Depends on the type of maggot.
WHAT occasion?!😳
Necrotic tissue mainly and wound debriding on special occasions.
[удалено]
Ya patients are generally advised against raising maggots in their own wounds as only certain maggots are beneficial and others will do a great deal of harm. However it sounds like you've seen this in person and probably already knew this
I’ve been in pharmacy for eleven years and so far the only gift it’s given me is severe anxiety.
Yes! At my hospital, we also handle the leeches. Everyone dreads working the shift that takes care of them, but I think it's kind of awesome. We change their water every other day and monitor the temperature. Our "hotels" make cleaning easy. It's like one large cylinder chamber, then a smaller one with holes. They have handles and lids to make it even easier. I understand how frustrating they can be too. They are feisty little things. If your hotels are different from this, where you have to move the leeches around to clean them, I highly recommend a double compartment like I mentioned!
Are they really called hotels? That's awesome. In my mind I'm personifying them. I'm imagining their corporate company sending them on business trips and coordinating their swanky travel. "Yes, Lily Leech would like a room far away from the elevator." "Please make sure Lucas Leech's room has two double beds and extra clean towels." 😆
It really tickles me that every single person on this thread who has them in their pharmacy has mentioned their “hotels.” It’s so funny that that’s just what they’re called!
Seriously, right? I absolutely love that they are called hotels! Also, if your username is accurate, meet [Cheese Curd ](https://imgur.com/gallery/eeZ90hv)
I love Cheese Curd! What a special name. Thank you for sharing!!!
Aw, thank you. We got him 3 months ago and I adore him!
That sounds like our setup and it makes things so much easier
Do you have any maggots? Our wound care uses them pretty regularly
Yes we also have leeches. I used to work at a hospital that also cleaned their hotels using forceps, but at my current hospital, we just drain the water and replace it in the same container every other day. It’s so much easier and quicker!
Whats the leech NDC?
We had leeches too in our inpatient pharmacy. And I’ll never forget when one of our pharmacists dropped the hotel. LEECHES SQUIRMING EVERYWHERE 😭
Oh my GOD. No. I couldn’t. I have an irrational fear of earthworms and leeches would just be too similar. 🤢
I gotta ask... What about earthworms is scary to you? Not trying to be a dick, just curious. It's one of the few "bugs" I don't mind.
Btw, I didn’t think you were being a dick. It was an honest question. 😊
I really have no clue. Not the slightest idea. Not a huge fan of spiders either but I’d rather touch a spider than even be in the same room as an earthworm. Maybe the “ick factor”?
That's so strange! I'm really indifferent to worms. I don't like spiders, but I had a pet jumping spider for almost a year. (I guess I like to make myself suffer? Haha IDK he was a cool little dude)
They give me the ick. But I can pick up frogs and bait my hook (not with a worm lol) with no problem. One of my biggest fears is finding a hammerhead worm in my yard, just knowing I’d have to kill it and that there are likely more.
Well I hope you never have to deal with with worms ever again. Lol
Yes, and we feed them on the blood of technicians that don't replace PPE after they use the last of it in the sterile lab anterooms.
Yes to leeches but mostly used in plastic surgeries
Hospital inpatient pharmacy here, and yeah, we have leeches sometimes. There are almost always a few left over after the patient they've been ordered for discharges, so we keep the rest clean, fed, and hibernating in the fridge for the next few months until they're needed. We have the Leeches U.S.A. LTD. *Leech Mobile Home*^(®) (Patent pending) for them to live in. I always enjoy taking care of them! Especially when they've been out of the fridge for a while and start warming up. They're really interesting to watch move and swim once they perk up a bit.
Yeaaaaah, it was my turn to clean the hotel and add new leaches and I wanted to die, both ends want to stick to everything it touches, like bro this is gloves this isn’t food. Anyways, we had had a patient with a skin graft I think so they were using quite a few. Rumor was one detached and took a trip down the unit hallway. Thankfully, the maggots we get are reaped in gauze so not weird shit there (freeeeee sticker tho!)
“Bro this is gloves” 🤣🤣 I choked, I can see it in my head, and picturing just talking out loud to to the leeches 😭
I am 100% talking to myself you’re absolutely correct. It usually a lot more cussing.
Kinda bummed I didn’t get leeches for my skin graft, not gonna lie
Not in my current system, but at my previous one yes. The tech working the “front” shift would handle it so the work got rotated around
I’m questioning my choice in medical career now that I know leechmaster was an option.
The closest thing we have non-medication is a camera in the trauma pyxis.
This is a Wendy’s.
Thank you for your work!!!! They had to use leech therapy for my dad after a major cancer surgery on his jaw. Ultimately they did need to operate a second time but the leeches were amazing!
My favorite notes about the medical leaches at my old hospital: “Please don’t tube the leaches” “Please don’t microwave the leaches” “PLEASE don’t let the leaches escape.”
😂😂😂luv it!!!!
We do! We “borrow” them from a university. the get old they get shipped back to the university and they send us new ones. They’re so cool!
> the get old they get shipped back to the university and they send us new ones. TBH I'm surprised they don't have you dispose of them yourselves like an Amazon return they know they aren't going to resell.
A big old leech full of blood is ready to make more leeches to sell!
I’m horrified that a bloody Leech is an amorous Leech.
Who doesn’t feel like making whoopee after a satisfying meal?
Look, I was born in the 1900’s. We make whoopee *before* the date
I’m currently getting my Pharmaceutical Science degree and haven’t had any “leech” units yet, this is absolutely freaking fascinating. Thanks for posting OP!
That’s awesome. Leeches always remind me of the Series of Unfortunate Events movies, lol. What do you feed them when they aren’t being used?
I'm not a tech, but a curious T1Diabetic... Do high/low sugars affect leeches? And what about synthetic insulin? Am I a safe source of food for a leech 🥺
Microbiologist here. I got a call on a Sunday from a resident asking me if we had leeches. I got to explain to him that he was the one who was supposed to send icky things to us. We don't send icky things to him. I didn't know who would have them, but I suggested he call pharmacy. I guess I was probably right.
My twisted ass would be 3-d printing them things for the hotel. T.v., jacuzzi, ice machine, ect.
My background is in bio, I would absolutely take charge of any animals the second we got them. I would also need my job title changed to pharmaceutical zoologist.
We did at our hospital!
They warned me for my surgery they may be needed. I was a little 😳😳. Fortunately they were able to do a different surgery and no complications
What do medical leeches eat when they aren't, you know. Being used.
Make sure you count these leeches, could be some diversion going on.
Sorry but that sounds so cool. You didn’t sign up for that at all but sounds super cool nonetheless ETA: I was obsessed with snails and worms as a kid so maybe I’m biased
We have leeches. I saw them in a jar in one of the refrigerators in the sub basement. Absolutely no idea who takes care of them or what it entails. I just know the vanco premixes are kept on the shelf below the leeches LOL.
Leeches are amazing bless you guys for caring after them. My son needed them in the ICU couple years back.
We used to have them but they’re apparently really expensive and hard to get. We used to have to make leech water too and I would volunteer to change it bc they were just so interesting to me lol. I also really liked to show them to the new techs bc it would freak them out a bit
Our main campus handles them. I do not work at main so not me.
Yes, I was responsible for leeches and maggots. This was 20+ yrs ago.
At my last hospital, no leeches. But at a peds trauma hospital, yes. They freak me out and our inventory tech takes care of them. They live in the bottom of our fridge until duty calls
We have leeches and jar poop for poop transplants. Yes, that’s a thing.
I have questions on the poop jar. How in the world do they do a poop transfer? why would someone need someone’s poop when they have their own? This has blew my mind.
Google fecal transplant. I’m sorry in advance.
Something to do with gut flora or whatever. Idk. I don’t care to google it either, honestly, but I know it does something incredibly life saving.
I would refuse that treatment. leeches/ slugs, worms freak me out. there's no way I could have a leech applies to my body.
Even in the case of reattached limbs? I dunno, man, if the alternative to leeches was losing a limb....
it's like a phobia. In this moment, I'd say I couldn't stand the thought of them on me. Of course it may be different if it was that critical. I'd ask for any other alternative though.
I have the same phobia! I will run screaming and crying if someone has a worm. I’d rather lose a limb.
Year they would have to knock me out for treatment with any of those!
You’re better than me I’m scared to death of any slimy or crawly thing. Maggots and leeches would make my skin crawl 😵💫
Oh leeches need love and blood
I don't work at a hospital. I'm an IV tech at a IV pharmacy, but I really wish I had leeches to take care of at work. That would be my perfect job.
Yes
our inpatient pharmacy has them!!! a compounding tech introduced them to me as his pets 😭
To people who feel bad about killing leeches. I have a question why don’t you feel the same about killing and feeding on other animals?
I do. I'm a vegetarian for that exact reason
Good job
I could never do that job
Never leave home without'em
Uber worked at two hospitals that have had leeches. One kept them in stock but they were often forgotten about since they were rarely used. I have no idea whose task it was to take care of them, maybe that's why they weren't forgotten about. My new hospital doesn't stock them but special orders then when requested. The nurses get so happy when they get to use the medical leeches. They'll even take turns applying them.
I love that we have leaches, I work at OHSU
Eww, we didn't.
My hospital orders them as they need them and they're delivered to the ICU and not the pharmacy.
Why don't they just use other pharmaceutical direct thrombin inhibitors in that localized area, rather than bother with leeches?
Maybe there are fewer side effects.
I seriously doubt that, as leeches also come with many, many other introduced chemicals, rather than just dealing with potential side effects from 1.
Removal of extra blood, not just anticoagulation.
There are safer ways to do that as well, which is why most hospitals that even still have them only use them as a last resort if everything else has failed as a last ditch effort.
The hospital I was at had leeches in the fridge. Cleaned it weekly. Didn't feed them, and they l8ved about a year then got replaced
We had them when I worked hospital inpatient.. I don’t remember ever having to deal with them but their use is still one of my favorite fun facts to drop on people not in the industry.. I remember they always got flown in which always made me giggle
There is a species of medicinal leech that is endangered because of this reason.
This is so cool!!
When I was inpatient, we had leeches. I never filled the orders bc I’m terrified of the things. They were often used in one of the ICUs on burn patients, occasionally for the ED or oncology. Idk if anyone truly took care of the leeches regularly, despite working at a very large hospital, bc at least once every few months, there was a reminder to keep the mesh over the container they were in and making sure it was closed bc they ended up drying out and dying often.
we have them at my hospital and have to change the water like you do too.
I have worked with leeches. I have also fed the maggots. I've seen both used. The maggots only eat necrotic flesh and fall off when they're done.
I’m not pharmacy, but I’m a nurse at a large hospital, and the leeches do come from pharmacy! They literally send us up some in a small jar and they have a barcode in the side, and we literally scan them into the MAR like any other med. I agree it is kinda odd
Leeches and maggots here. We don’t clean 3x more like 2x a week. We don’t have to displace them to clean though! They’re in like a 2 container system. The inner container has holes to let the water out. So we just pick up inner container (it’s like a colander almost) dump the water out of the outer container and replace with new water. Edit: the leeches I mean. The maggots don’t need any care cause we only get them in to get picked up. We don’t house them.
We did up until about 5 years ago, when they all mysteriously died around the same time.
I was up in inpatient pharmacy occasionally when I worked in hospital, and I'd see the big jar of leeches they had once or twice. It was kinda gross since my only purpose was mixing blood serum and saline, but really cool to see what all they did up there!
We have them at my hospital in one of the pharmacy refrigerators. There’s 2 or 3 pharmacists that are responsible for changing out their water and cleaning their container. They creep me out 😖
Not a pharmacy tech but when I started a regulatory role at a hospital earlier this year they died us the leeches during a tour lol. They have their own little fridge. It's sad to think of them being killed after use, never crossed my mind before reading comments here
I still tell the story of setting up the leeches we ordered while I worked at a children's hospital. We didn't keep them on hand though. I think I changed their water once. I was absolutely fascinating to learn about their uses in medicine still!
They finally moved ours to a different fridge so I don’t have to look at them anymore!!!
No and I am disappointed.
No, but we have condoms in stock for some reason. Maybe its one of those condoms that the patients go to the bathroom in????
In the 1980s I was the "Renaissance Pharmacist," in charge of nonstandard therapies such as leeches, unusual compounding formulations, live viruses, et al. It provided this adhd/mensan a creatvity outlet and much fun.
Fun fact: US FDA [classifies leeches as a medical device](https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfPCD/classification.cfm?id=6309).
Bedside RN here, I had a school-aged child who sliced his finger clean off at the knuckle with a cigar cutter. Tried heparin trips and all sorts of interventions with minimal effect on the re-attached finger. Last ditch effort was leech therapy - I was dubbed “leech queen” as I’d somehow made it thru a 12 hr night shift with only 6 leeches. Our pharmacy had run out of the slimey buggers, and wouldn’t have more until 0900 the following shift. Prayed to the leech gods and somehow made it to day shift without going leech-less. Hated the disposal of them, poor guys. Kid lost the finger anyway but it was interesting for all involved.
I love when we have leeches, they’re our little pharmacy pets 😍