Study sheet: Phlebotomy Essentials and Blood Science

📋 Course Outline

1. Phlebotomy Safety and Legal Duties
2. Infection Control and Prevention
3. Venipuncture Sites and Complications
4. Circulation and Heart Anatomy
5. Blood Composition and Red Cells
6. White Cells and Hemostasis
7. Medical Terminology and Pathogens
8. Laboratory Sections and Test Tubes
9. Vital Signs and Emergency Care
10. Specimen Collection and Cardiac Conduction

📖 1. Phlebotomy Safety and Legal Duties

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Informed consent : permission given by a patient who has been told the procedure, its risks, expected outcomes, and alternatives

📝 Essential Points

• A used needle must be placed immediately into a sharps container without recapping it after withdrawal.

• The Good Samaritan law encourages healthcare professionals to provide care within their training at an accident scene without fear of negligence lawsuits.

• If a patient refuses venipuncture, the phlebotomist should immediately report the refusal and the actions taken to the nurse or doctor.

💡 Memory Hook

Consent → care → report → dispose

📖 2. Infection Control and Prevention

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Chain of infection : The chain of infection consists of a source, a mode of transmission, and a susceptible host.

★ Must-know

• The five main modes of transmission are:
  • direct or indirect contact
  • droplet
  • airborne
  • vehicle
  • vector-borne

📌 Handwashing is the most important means of preventing the spread of infection.

Further detail

• Examples of personal protective equipment include:
  • gloves
  • masks
  • goggles
  • face shields
  • gowns
  • respirators

💡 Memory Hook

Medical asepsis destroys pathogens after exit; handwashing prevents their spread

📖 3. Venipuncture Sites and Complications

★ Must-know

• The three major veins are:

  • median cubital vein
  • cephalic vein
  • basilic vein

• A tourniquet may remain on a patient for 1 minute; leaving it on longer can cause hemoconcentration.

• A hematoma is blood accumulated in tissue around a vein, phlebitis is inflammation of a vein, and thrombophlebitis is vein inflammation with clot formation.

• Blood should not be drawn from an intravenous fluid site or from a permanent artificial arteriovenous fistula site.

Further detail

📌 A hematoma can be prevented by applying pressure to the venipuncture site until bleeding stops.

💡 Memory Hook

The antecubital fossa as a three-vein crossroads

📖 4. Circulation and Heart Anatomy

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Pulmonary circulation : carries deoxygenated blood from the right ventricle to the lungs and returns oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart
• Systemic circulation : carries oxygenated blood from the left ventricle throughout the body

📝 Essential Points

• The tricuspid valve lies between the right atrium and right ventricle, while the mitral valve, also called the bicuspid valve, lies on the left side of the heart.

• The heart wall consists of:

  • endocardium
  • myocardium
  • epicardium

💡 Memory Hook

Right heart → lungs → left heart → body

📖 5. Blood Composition and Red Cells

★ Must-know

• An average adult has 5 to 6 liters of blood, consisting of plasma and formed elements.

• Plasma comprises 55 percent of circulating blood, while formed elements comprise 45 percent.

• Erythrocytes contain hemoglobin, an oxygen-carrying protein; an immature erythrocyte is a reticulocyte that matures in 1–2 days.

• The normal red blood cell count is 4.2–6.2 million per microliter, and a red blood cell normally lives 120 days.

Further detail

• Plasma contains:
  • proteins
  • amino acids
  • gases
  • electrolytes
  • sugars
  • hormones
  • minerals
  • vitamins
  • water

💡 Memory Hook

Plasma is liquid; formed elements are cellular

📖 6. White Cells and Hemostasis

★ Must-know

• White blood cells protect the body against infection, and the normal adult white blood cell count is 5,000–10,000 per microliter.

• The five types of white blood cells are:

  • neutrophils
  • lymphocytes
  • monocytes
  • eosinophils
  • basophils

• Neutrophils comprise 40%–60% of white blood cells, are phagocytic, and commonly increase during bacterial infection.

• 🔄 Hemostasis proceeds through:

  1. vascular
  2. platelet
  3. coagulation
  4. fibrinolysis

Further detail

• Lymphocytes comprise 20%–40% of white blood cells and increase during viral infections while contributing to immunity.

💡 Memory Hook

Vascular → platelet → coagulation → fibrinolysis

📖 7. Medical Terminology and Pathogens

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Pathogen : A pathogen is a disease-producing agent, including viruses, bacteria, rickettsiae, protozoa, parasitic worms, and fungi.
• Anemia : a condition in which normal red blood cells are reduced
• Host : the organism with or upon which a parasite lives
• Anticoagulant : a substance that prevents coagulation

💡 Memory Hook

R-V-P-F: rickettsia, viruses, protozoa, fungi

📖 8. Laboratory Sections and Test Tubes

★ Must-know

• The hematology section studies formed elements of blood, while the blood bank collects, stores, and prepares blood for transfusion.

• The microbiology section detects pathogenic microorganisms and performs culture and sensitivity testing to identify organisms and determine effective antibiotic therapy.

• The anticoagulants in the yellow, light-blue, green, and lavender tubes are SPS, sodium citrate, sodium or lithium heparin, and EDTA, respectively.

Further detail

• The chemistry section is divided into:

  • electrophoresis
  • toxicology
  • immunochemistry

• The grey tube contains powdered potassium oxalate and sodium fluoride, while the orange STAT tube contains thrombin clot activator.

💡 Memory Hook

Culture → chemistry → hematology → blood bank

📖 9. Vital Signs and Emergency Care

📝 Essential Points

• The normal blood pressure range is 90/60 to 140/90, with systolic pressure representing heart contraction and diastolic pressure representing heart relaxation.

• Normal respiration is 12–14 breaths per minute, normal pulse is 60–100 beats per minute, and normal body temperature is 97.6°F–99.6°F.

📌 Tachycardia is a pulse or heart rate above 100 beats per minute, whereas bradycardia is a rate below 60 beats per minute.

• 🔄 First aid for shock includes: maintaining an open airway, calling for help, keeping the victim lying down with the head lower than the body, keeping the victim warm, controlling known bleeding or its cause

💡 Memory Hook

Tachycardia exceeds 100 BPM; bradycardia falls below 60 BPM

📖 10. Specimen Collection and Cardiac Conduction

★ Must-know

• 🔄 The order of draw is:
  1. blood cultures
  2. yellow
  3. light blue
  4. red
  5. red-speckled or marbled
  6. green
  7. lavender
  8. grey
  9. royal blue

📌 Arterial blood gas specimens must be chilled after collection.

📌 The recommended depth for an infant microcapillary collection should not exceed 2.0 mm.

Further detail

• The sinoatrial node fires for 5 seconds, the atrioventricular node holds for 1/10 second, the AV bundle separates conduction between atria and ventricles, and Purkinje fibers help push blood out of the ventricles.

💡 Memory Hook

Cultures → citrate → serum → heparin → EDTA → fluoride

📊 Synthesis Tables

Major Circulations and Blood Direction

Circulation	Starting chamber	Destination	Blood description
Pulmonary	Right ventricle	Lungs and heart	Deoxygenated to lungs, oxygenated back
Systemic	Left ventricle	Body tissues	Oxygenated blood throughout the body