Samples for most blood chemistry testing can be submitted in a lithium heparin tube (green top) or a clot tube (red top). Exceptions are TIBC (total iron binding capacity) which must be submitted in a clot tube and ammonia which must be submitted in a lithium heparin tube on wet ice.
**Test must be pre-arranged with lab
Samples for hematology should be submitted in EDTA (purple top) tubes. Tubes should be filled 2/3 full and submitted within 2 hours of collection for guaranteed results.
Samples for urinalysis can be submitted in a clot tube, syringe, or other sealed containers. A minimum of 3 ml is required for microscopic sediment evaluation.
Samples for coagulation tests should be submitted in a sodium citrate tube (blue top) with the exception of FDP which should be submitted in a soybean trypsin tube (also blue top). Note: It is critical that tubes be filled properly. Sodium citrate and soybean trypsin tubes should be allowed to autodraw 2.7 and 2.0 mL respectively to insure exact anticoagulant dilution. Coagulation tests are batched and run daily at 10:00am and 3:00pm. If it is an emergency, please notify lab personnel.
Recipient samples for crossmatch or blood typing tests should be submitted in EDTA tubes (purple top). Donor samples can be submitted in EDTA or as blood bag segments.
Samples should be submitted in an EDTA tube (purple top) for cell counts and microscopic examination, and clot tubes (red top) for chemistry analysis. CSF specimens and samples for chemistry analysis should be submitted in a clot tube (red top) for both cell counts/differential and chemistry analysis.