Specimen Management

Blue-closure Tube Shortage: Manual Citrate Solution

In response to the blue-closure tube shortage, I [Geo] contacted several colleagues who prepare or who used to prepare their own 3.2% [and pre-2000, 3.8%] sodium citrate solution for hemostasis specimens. Nearly all said that, like your grandmother, the recipe was just in their heads. Dr. Emanuel Favaloro, Sydney, NSW, dug into his laboratory archives […]

Specimen Management

FDA Statement: Blue-closure Tube Shortage

Thanks to colleague Mary Coleman for the heads-up introducing this FDA Statement: June 10, 2021 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA] is aware that the U.S. is experiencing significant interruptions in the supply of sodium citrate blood specimen collection [light blue top] tubes because of an increase in demand and recent vendor supply challenges. […]

Specimen Management

More About the Blue-closure Tube Shortage

Thanks to Dennis Ernst, MT(ASCP), NCPT(NCCT), Director of the Center for Phlebotomy Education, for contacting BD and Greiner about the current sodium citrate tube shortage. Please refer to our May 17 post describing this issue and see comments from Dennis [which includes BD’s recommendations], and from Bob Gosselin, who surveyed several colleagues and learned of […]

Specimen Management

Blue-closure Tube Shortage

Thanks to Dave McGlasson for a link to Facebook page, Medical Laboratory Science Hidden Heroes where on May 14, Amy Irwin asked, “So from what I hear the Na citrate blue top tube shortage is nationwide. What is your plan for anyone experiencing this?” Checking an April 16 NPR News report, there is a nationwide […]

Specimen Management

Thawing Coag Specimens

I [Geo] received this question on 4-6-21 from Don Wahl, Core Laboratory Manager, Sanford USD Medical Center, Sioux Falls, SD. “Why do coagulation tests need to be quick- thawed at 37°C? If samples are thawed at room temperature what would be the effect on the coagulation testing?” Hello, Don, and thank you for your question. […]

Specimen Management

Glass Tubes in Centrifuges

On September 4, 2010 Mary L. Turgeon provided a discussion of the effect of altitude on blood specimen collection using evacuated tubes. Today, Laura Lauzze added a comment on the subject, noting that they have found it necessary in her facility at 9000 feet to use glass tubes [click]. Her concern focuses on the risk […]

Specimen Management

Reducing Hemolysis Rate

Thanks to friend and colleague Dennis Ernst, Center for Phlebotomy Education, for illustrating a new technology, PIVO® from Velano Vascular, San Francisco, California, which enables blood collectors to obtain specimens from peripheral intravenous [PIV] devices saafely while reducing the incidence of hemolysis. Click here for an article describing the device on Dennis’s site.

Specimen Management

Specimen Collection: HCT over 55%

From Heidi Hobbs: Adjusting anticoagulant for hematocrits greater than 55% has been a hot topic lately. It is a challenge to ensure this is being done in all cases and we have some great things in the works. While doing some research, I ran across one lab that has a simplified adjustment table, where patients […]

Specimen Management

Cord Blood PTT

From Ann Helen: Can you trust results of PTT and factor VIII in umbilical cord blood? It seems as if it is usual to draw umbilical cord blood from newborns when the mother is a known carrier of Hemophilia A. Can you trust a high APTT and a low factor VIII in such a sample? […]

Bleeding Disorders

Platelet Clumping

Friend and Colleague Dennis Ernst, Center for Phlebotomy Education, shared this January 8, 2021 question with George: Hello Phlebotomy Today, We’ve come across a patient whose platelets clumped in EDTA and citrate tubes. We understand that ammonium oxalate may be used to provide an accurate platelet count. Do you know of a manufacturer of these […]

Specimen Management

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George Fritsma is a medical laboratory scientist, educator, and author. George is a member of the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis, the International Society for Laboratory Hematology, and the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science.

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