Blood

Precautions for taking blood

• Before taking a patients blood, put gloves on.
• Try to stay as relaxed as possible, and advise the patient to stay still and lie down (if appropriate). Take your time and do not rush through the procedure.
• Withdraw the needle from the vein whilst covering the site of the needle puncture with a cotton wool ball.
• Do not re-sheath the needle as this can cause 💉Needlestick Injuries.
• Once the blood sample has been taken, immediately place the needle and vacutainer holder into the sharps bin.
• To avoid spills, take care when removing the vacutainer from the inducer.
• If required, the vacutainer can be mixed with preservative by gently rolling or tipping the bottle but do not shake it.
• Individual blood samples should be placed into a sealed, plastic pathology sample bag and stored in a cool, safe place. Any forms accompanying the sample should be separately attached.

See also 🦺Safe Use & Disposal of Sharps.

Precautions for handling blood samples

How to deal with a blood sample leakage:

• The sample must not leave the practice.
• If the leak is contained in the plastic bag → place it into another plastic bag and seal securely.
• If the leak is not contained in the plastic bag:
• place the bag into another plastic bag and secure the top of the sample tube through the bags.
• wash your hands and any cuts or open wounds thoroughly with hot water and soap (see 👋Hand Hygiene).
• clean and disinfect any objects which may have become contaminated (as described under Decontamination and disposal of contaminated clothing)
• Inform a suitable person (e.g. GP).
• Dispose of the sample in a appropriate clinical waste container (see 🗑️Waste Management).

Precautions to take if in contact with patients who are bleeding

• Wear gloves when dealing with open wounds, regardless of whether they are bleeding or not.
• If bleeding is heavy, wear a plastic apron.
• The patient should not be allowed to leave the practice whilst still bleeding.
• The patients’ contaminated clothing should be placed in a plastic bag and returned to the patient. We should advise patients to soak their clothes in cold water as described below.

Other body fluids

• Additional patient samples taken in the practice include urine, faeces, vomit, phlegm/sputum, vaginal specula, spatula and smears.
• All patient samples must be in a suitable container, as described in our 🧪Samples page.
• If you are handling any of these samples, always wear appropriate PPE (see 😷Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)).
• If any sample containers leak, dispose of as clinical waste and take a new sample (see 🗑️Waste Management).
• If you dispose of urine or vomit down the sluice or toilet, make sure to clean thoroughly after.

Microbiological swabs

Precautions for taking swabs from infected lesions

• Do not touch the infected area with your hands or clothing (see 😷Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)).
• Make sure that the container for the swab and the patient are reasonably close together to minimise chance of spillage.
• Take care to ensure that the swab contains enough material for analysis, but not so much that the material could drip before reaching the container.
• Once in the container, seal and put in a sealed plastic hazard bag. The accompanying form should be placed a separate pocket of the hazard bag to avoid contamination.
• If the container loosens and opens, re-seal it through the bag or by opening the bag (if opening the bag, wear PPE).
• If transport medium leaks out of the bag, dispose of the sample as clinical waste and take a new specimen.

How to handle a spillage

Decontamination & disposal of contaminated clothing

If your clothing does become contaminated:

1. Remove as much excess material as you can using gloves and a disposable wipe.
2. Avoid allowing contaminated clothing to come into contact with surfaces on which food is prepared.
3. Change into clean clothes.
4. Wash contaminated clothing:
• by soaking in cold water before washing, if blood-stained. Disinfect the bowl/sink that the clothing was soaked in after use.
• separately from other clothing and at a high temperature, if soiled.