(Lab) Venipuncture Equipment

• PHLEBOTOMY COLLECTION TRAY

  • Tool-like containers that contain equipment or pieces that are necessary for venipuncture, dermal puncture, and even arterial puncture

  • They are placed in a very compact containers like the basket in the figure below that is meant for transport as medical technologists or phlebotomists go to rooms or different areas in the hospital

  • Sometimes called a warding box or warding tray because we bring this tray into wards
• light blue - sodium citrate
• green - heparin
• violet / lavender and pink - edta
• red - either have no other contents or contain clot activator
• Reclining phlebotomy chair - Can be reclined for the patient can be adjusted in a correct position
• Safety Shield – cover of the needle once used;

  meant to protect the patient from sharp injury
• Multisample needles - They can be used to draw large amount of blood for samples
• Hypodermic needles - Inserted beneath the skin
• Winged blood collection needle - Have flaps of plastic attached to it; meant to increase the surface area to hold the needle properly; butterfly method
• For routine venipuncture, 1-inch and 1.5-inch

  lengths are used.
• Bevel – angled portion of the needle (edge portion)
• Point – tip of the needle
• Shaft – the overall length of the needle; body
• Hub – If the needle hits the vein there will be blood in the hub; visual guide of the phlebotomist to proceed in drawing blood and insert the tube
• NEEDLE GAUGE

  • Refers to the diameter of the needle bore
• Needles vary from large (16-gauge) needles used to collect units of blood for transfusions to much smaller (23-gauge) needles for very small veins.
• The smaller the gauge number the bigger the diameter of the needle.
• NEEDLE HOLDERS

  Made of rigid plastic and may be designed to act as a safety shield for the used needle
• MULTISAMPLE NEEDLES

  • Have the stopper puncturing needle covered by a rubber sheath that is pushed back when a tube is attached and returns to full needle coverage when the tube is removed.
  • This prevents leakage of blood when tubes are being changed.
• NEEDLE DISPOSAL SYSTEMS

  • Rigid, puncture-resistant, leak-proof disposable “sharps” containers labeled BIOHAZARD that are easily sealed and locked when full.
• • Evacuated tubes - Has vacuums inside of it
  • Vacutainers - Some have contents inside (additives or coagulants)
• Syringes

  • Blood drawn in a syringe is immediately transferred to appropriate evacuated tubes to prevent theformation of clots
  • It is not acceptable to puncture the rubber stopper with the syringe needle and allow the blood to be drawn into the tube
• Advantage of Syringes

  • Phlebotomist is able to control the suction pressure eon the vein by slowly withdrawing the syringe plunger (manually)
  • Blood will appear in the hub of the needle when the vein has been successfully entered
• BLOOD TRANSFER DEVICES

  • Provides a safe means for blood transfer without using the syringe needle or removing the tube stopper
  • It is an evacuated tube holder with a rubber-sheathed needle inside
• WINGED BLOOD COLLECTION SETS

  • “Butterflies”
  • Used for the infusion of IV fluids and for performing venipuncture from very small or very fragile veins often seen in children and in the geriatric population
  • Usually 21 or 23 gauge with lengths of ½ to ¾ inch.
• TOURNIQUETS

  • Used during venipuncture to make it easier to locate patients’ veins
  • 2-3 inches above the puncture site
  • Latex (single use)
  • Cloth tourniquet that have a buckle
• 70% ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL

  • Primary antiseptic used for cleansing the skin in routine phlebotomy
• 2X2-INCH GAUZE PADS

  • Used for applying pressure to the puncture site after the needle has been removed
  • It is not recommended to use cotton balls to apply pressure because the cotton ball fibers can stick to the venipuncture site and may cause bleeding to begin again when the cotton is removed.