FAQs

Dissection Connection sources and supplies dissection specimens for schools, universities, home schools and medical training courses. The organs are inspected for dissection quality, vacuum packed, frozen and delivered to your door. All you have to do is defrost them when you need them.

Miss Vivi’s aim is that Dissection Connection will be your one stop shop for dissection specimens. The specimens are guaranteed to be suitable for dissection. No more hearts with the top cut off. No more cancelling eye dissections because you can’t get the stock.
If there is something in particular you are looking for then please let her know.

Meet Miss Vivi Section – the alter ego of a Queensland science tech. It’s become increasingly apparent that schools and universities are having trouble sourcing good quality specimens for dissection classes. Miss Vivi knows you want your pound of flesh! She knows there is no substitute for the real thing. And she knows how to get it for you.

Dissection Connection
PO Box 1505
Gympie QLD 4570

ABN: 56 239 896 162

To have a squeal to Miss Vivi:
Phone: 0412 622 592
Email: missvivi @ dissectionconnection.com.au

I can be difficult to catch by phone. Please email if you can.

We are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday (Queensland time). Closed Fridays.

Just send an order by filling in the online order form,
email to sales @ dissectionconnection.com.au,
or over the phone on 0412 622 592.

No need to set up an account with us beforehand. Everything you need to know to set us up as a a new supplier is right here on our website. Bank details will be provided when we invoice you.

We do not complete new supplier forms or provide quotes on products listed on our price list – red tape drains the lifeblood out of small business so please help us keep it to the bare minimum necessary.

NSW Department of Education customers please note that to process your order we must receive a purchase order from NSWBuy. If you hold a P-card credit card then use the code PCARD in the purchase order field on the online order form. If you are not the cardholder then it is your responsibility to ensure that the invoice is processed and paid for on time.

Please make sure that all the information required on our order form is included with your order. Our products are perishable and it is very important that we are able to contact you to keep you up to date with your order progress.

Orders to be shipped on Monday of your preferred delivery week close at lunchtime Thursday of the the previous week.  Any orders received Thursday afternoon or Friday will be shipped the following Tuesday at the earliest.  Sorry, but we only have two hands each!

You will receive an email confirming your order when we have received it. Keep an eye out for it and if you don’t hear from us within a day or two you will know to chase us up. If your order is being processed by your colleagues in accounts then please check with them first.

From schools – Absolutely! Just email it to sales @ dissectionconnection.com.au or include it in the purchase order field on our online order form.

Universities, businesses, home school providers and medical training customers are not provided goods on account. We’ll invoice you for payment prior to despatch when we receive your order

Just let Miss Vivi know as soon as you possibly can. Email is the best way as we can’t always answer the phone with our hands full of blood and guts. Email: sales @ dissectionconnection.com.au Phone: 0412 622 592

As long as you order hasn’t been packed and scheduled for shipping the change or cancellation will be accepted.

Orders that contain special order items cannot be changed or cancelled.

Dissection Connection accepts payment by EFT or credit card. Payment details are listed on our invoice.  Invoices are emailed to account customers after the order has been despatched.  If you need an invoice earlier than that for any reason just let us know.

Universities, home school customers, corporate customers, and medical training providers including Queensland Health and NSW Department of Health are required to pay for their order in full prior to despatch. Please send your order in the usual way and we will invoice you with all the payment options.

Payment terms are 14 days from date of invoice.  Late payment fees will be applied to overdue invoices.  We reserve the right to remove account privileges and require payment in advance from any customer who does not respect our payment terms.

We do not accept cheques. Organ donations are a generous thought, but regretfully we cannot accept payment this way.

The organs are all sourced from beasts that have been professionally slaughtered and inspected for consumption of the meat.
Miss Vivi collects it before repackaging it and freezing it down for you.

Yes, sometimes. The organs are inspected during slaughter to determine that the meat from the animal is fit for consumption.
However, Miss Vivi has had the lash out and the inspection cuts are as minimal as possible.

We believe Lab Technicians and science Teachers are subjected to enough chemical exposure during their career as it is. Students, too, deserve to learn in an environment that limits their chemical exposure to those experiments that require the use of chemicals in a controlled and safe manner.
The specimens supplied by Dissection Connection are 100% chemical preservative free. No formalin, no glycol, no nothing. The exception are the small intestines which are packaged in a solution of sterile 0.9% saline to prevent dehydration of the specimen.

Our toads have been euthanased via CO2 asphyxiation in accordance with the latest method endorsed by Biosecurity Queensland and the RSPCA.
The piglets are not euthanased for use as a specimen. Dissection Connection has arranged for stillborns to be collected and frozen on the day they are born. This means that we are diverting a waste stream from the farms into classrooms for dissection before they are disposed of. A surviving piglet is worth much more to the farmers as a product so there is no inducement to euthanase piglets to sell as specimens.

Your order will be packed in a styrofoam box and sealed.
Your delivery box is lined with a plastic bag and has newspaper between the bags to slow down thawing and soak up moisture during transit.
Very occasionally a cryovac bag containing specimens will be damaged in some way and leak as the specimen defrosts. Take care when unpacking the box just in case there has been some leakage during transit and always defrost specimens in a container. Every precaution is taken to prevent damage and leakage but Miss Vivi can’t guarantee how the parcel is handled in transit.

Despatch days depend on the region you are in. In general:

• SE QLD & Central QLD: despatch Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday only
• FNQ: despatch Monday only
• Western QLD: despatch Monday only
• Sydney: Monday and Tuesday only
• NSW coastal & regional: Monday only
• ACT: Thursday with a refrigerated courier
• Melbourne: Thursday with a refrigerated courier
• VIC regional: Thursday with a refrigerated courier
• TAS: no longer serviced
• Adelaide: no longer serviced
• Perth: no longer serviced
• NT: no longer serviced

Since July 2021 we have not been able to use our usual courier into Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide or Canberra as they have so much freight they are at least 5 days behind in deliveries. We are using a refrigerated courier but it takes longer than normal. These deliveries are now despatched on a Thursday afternoon for delivery anywhere between the following Thursday and the Monday after. It’s stored frozen and shipped refrigerated the whole way. There is also a $40 surcharge per order to cover the extra cost of refrigeration. We can ship up to 15kg for the same price so you may want to get more specimens delivered at the same time. This is the only freight option we have for these destinations at the moment. We hope this courier will grow to service more regional areas and North Queensland where the heat is making deliveries more difficult.

Orders will not be shipped to schools during school holidays unless we have confirmation that there will be someone at the school to accept the delivery.

Orders to be shipped on Monday of your preferred delivery week close at lunchtime Thursday of the the previous week.  Any orders received Thursday afternoon or Friday will be shipped the following Tuesday at the earliest.  Sorry, but we only have two hands each!

If a public holiday falls on the Monday the package will be shipped on Tuesday.
Please consider local holidays like show day holidays if you designate a preferred delivery week. No liability will be accepted for orders that are not delivered in good condition due to local arrangements we are not aware of.

Orders to be delivered in Gympie are delivered personally by either Miss Vivi or Mr Vivi on weekdays other than Mondays. Sometimes the Rockhound will come too.
Orders to all other areas are shipped by courier and the cost depends on the size of the order being delivered. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch for a freight quote or cast an eye over the Dissection Connection Shipping Guide

Absolutely! You’ll receive an email from our courier to let you know the parcel has been picked up and let you track your delivery on their website.  Please alert your colleagues responsible for reception or mail collection that the parcel will be arriving. 

Please ensure reception staff are aware of the pending delivery, as no liability will be accepted by Dissection Connection for failure to receive deliveries within normal business hours.  It may be helpful to let your reception staff know that the specimens are vacuum packed and frozen to alleviate any concern they may have about receiving a parcel of specimens.

Keep in mind that you’re receiving a parcel of specialty freight and might have to be a bit flexible in your work schedule to ensure the specimens are unpacked and stored correctly on arrival.

Absolutely! If you’re in the area and you’d like to drop in to The Chop Shop to collect your order then just call to arrange a time.
You don’t have to, though.

You can relax in the comfort of your luxurious prep room and wait for reception to call to let you know that your order has arrived and they’ll send someone straight over to place it gently on a counter that’s not piled high with EEI’s so you can get on with washing those test tubes. (Sarcasm, Sheldon)

If you are going to use the specimens shortly after receiving them, store the packages in the refrigerator.
If you are not going to use them immediately, then pop them into the freezer until you need them.

Defrost it slowly in the refrigerator before opening the package. Allow at least 24 hours to defrost. Large specimens like plucks will take longer. The delivery box and lid makes a good defrosting container as long as you keep the esky liner in there as well.
Brains are best treated with a solution of 50% alcohol (ethanol or metho is fine) or concentrated salt solution to firm them up a bit before use. Here’s a 1 hour salt method developed by an experienced lab tech.
Miss Vivi does not recommend leaving specimens to defrost overnight in a sink or container without a cover. You’ll only attract vermin and insects with the munchies.

Your specimens aren’t much different to meat waste from the tuckshop. Wrap well and dispose of with general garbage. Freeze before disposal if necessary.

We are! The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown taught us that life is too short to be working 80 hours a week. Starting from April 2020 we will be closed on Fridays for the forseeable future. We intend to spend more time together at the beach, in the garden and generally doing nice things as a couple. It’s still business as usual Monday – Thursday.

Miss Vivi doesn’t recommend it. You can never be 100% sure that the offal hasn’t come into contact with some chemical residue from the lab environment during the dissection class. Vets don’t recommend you feed your pets excessive quantities of offal either. You love them, so look after them.

Miss Vivi has spent a lot of time hunting down websites that offer great dissection guides so if you need some help just get in touch and she’ll send you some links. Most of these are gathered together for you on Pinterest boards to make it easy to find them. We continue to write dissection guides to use at workshops and conferences and the basic body bits dissection guides are available for free download in the online shop. We also have an excellent range of anatomy books that can be used during classes to facilitate learning.

Miss Vivi is not a doctor. There is a lot of conflicting information out there regarding Q-Fever. If you are concerned about your risk of contracting Q-Fever then please see your doctor and ask to be referred to a Q-Fever specialist.

Absolutely! Wouldn’t you be?