ALFRED HEALTH, Alfred Pathology Service

Alfred Hospital, Caulfield Hospital, Sandringham Hospital

THREE FORMS OF IDENTIFICATION ARE REQUIRED
NOTE:
COLLECTOR MUST LABEL AND SIGN or INITIAL EVERY SPECIMEN (TUBE) and
MUST COMPLETE THE DECLARATION ON THE REQUEST FORM.
Tube Guide for Common Tests
CAP TESTS CAP TESTS
HEPARIN PLASMA with GEL, 5.0 mL EDTA, 3 mL
 Most urgent BIOCHEMISTRY and any  Essential for— FBE, Hb, DCT, Retics
patient on anti-coagulation medication.
Separate tube for—
NOT for Lithium, Holo-TC Vit B12  CD4/8, CD2/3, Cell Surface Markers and
Flow Cytometry
or PEP
PALE GREEN  HbA1c
(367375)  UE, LFT, Lipids, CA (NOT Ionised CA), PALE LILAC
(367838)  BNP (not NTproBNP), PTH
IP, MG, AST, CK, CRP, Drug Levels,
Common Haptoglobin, Iron Studies, Osmolality,  Cyclosporin, Everolimus, Sirolimus,
Biochem TFT, Troponin. Tacrolimus,Posaconazole, Voriconazole
plus…  Plasma Free Haemoglobin  Factor V Leiden, Prothrombin 20210
 ACTH, Ammonia and Homocysteine on ice

PLAIN BLOOD (Serum) with GEL, 8.5 mL

 Ionised Calcium, PEP, Immunoglobulins,  SEROLOGY
Free Light Chains, IgG subclasses, (extra tube if more than 4 of these tests)
Lithium, Vit D, Methotrexate, ASOT, CMV, Cryptococcus, EBV,
Thiopentone, NT-pro BNP, PSA, Hep A, B, C, HIV, Herpes, Rubella, Syphilis,
GOLD
 free PSA, Holo-TC and Vit B12. GOLD
Toxoplasma and Varicella
(367958)  Thyroglobulin, Anti-Tg, ATA, IgE, RAST, (367958) Autoantibodies, Anticardiolipin Antibodies,
Tryptase. GAD, IF, B2GP1, ACL, ENA, MPO, PR3 and
Gliadins, TTG, dsDNA.
 Calcitonin, VitA, VitE, C-Peptide all on ice.
(NB: Vit A, Vit C & Vit E - protect from light)
FLUORIDE OXALATE, 2 mL EDTA, 6 mL—‘CROSSMATCH’
 Lactate  Essential for—
Crossmatch, G&S, G&H
 Fasting or Timed Glucose,
Glucose Tolerance Test  Cold Agglutinins
(must be kept at 37C—call lab first)
GREY PINK
(367934) (367941) Remember to date, time and sign TUBE

CITRATE, 2.7 mL (must be complete fill) EDTA, 10 mL

 COAG—PT, INR, APTT, Fibrinogen,  Aldosterone and Renin (no ice)
D-Dimer, Anti-Xa, HMW heparin, CBA.
 Haemoglobin Electrophoresis
 Factor VIII, Factor IX, VWF, RCOF, ATIII,
 CryoFibrinogen (must be kept at 37 C - call
o
Protein C, Protein S, Lupus Screen.
Lab first)
PALE BLUE  Rivaroxaban, Apixaban, Dabigatran. PURPLE
(363095) (367525)  CMV viral load, HIV/HBV/HCV Viral Loads or
genotyping, Hep C PCR, Parvovirus PCR
and other Viral PCR’s, HLA H
PLAIN BLOOD (= Serum) without GEL, 10 mL ACD, 8.5 mL
 CryoGlobulins,  HLA Tissue Typing—
(must be kept at 37C—call lab first) see Pathology Handbook for further details
 HITS Screen, Cytotoxic antibodies  HLAB27, HLAB51, HLAB57.
RED  Platelet and HLA antibodies YELLOW
(367895) (364606)

See Next Page (over) for Special Tubes, Paediatric Tubes and Order-of-Draw Chart.
 Tests printed in Blue & Underlined must be delivered On Ice.
 Some tests require multiple or separate tubes, consult the Pathology Handbook (in tranet) for details.
 Hazard Warning: Never inject blood into the tube from needle and syringe.
Document No: Tube Guide for Common Tests V1.6.doc Page: 1 of 2
 ALFRED HEALTH, Alfred Pathology Service
Alfred Hospital, Caulfield Hospital, Sandringham Hospital

THREE FORMS OF IDENTIFICATION ARE REQUIRED

NOTE:
THE COLLECTOR MUST LABEL AND SIGN or INITIAL EVERY SPECIMEN (TUBE) and
MUST COMPLETE THE DECLARATION ON THE REQUEST FORM.

CAP TESTS CAP TESTS

&
METAL-FREE EDTA, 6 mL SPECIAL TUBE (Special Fill Citrate)
 Trace & Toxic Metals— ESR
Aluminium, Cadmium, Copper, (not suitable for any other tests)
Lead, Mercury, Selenium, Zinc

DARK BLUE
BLACK
(368381)
(Vacu-tek®)*

PAEDIATRIC (MICRO) COLLECTION CONTAINERS

Tests: as per Tube Guide on page 1
SPECIMEN DETAILS USE TUBE
PLAIN BLOOD (= Serum) MICROTAINER Paediatric & finger-prick
with GEL, 600 L collections
Cat. No. ... 365967

EDTA MICROTAINER Paediatric & finger-prick

500 L collections
Cat. No. ... 365974

HEPARIN PLASMA MICROTAINER Paediatric & finger-prick

with GEL, 600 L collections
Cat. No. ... 365985

CITRATE, 1.8 mL VACUTAINER Difficult bleeds

Cat. No. ... 363093

CITRATE 1.0 mL MINICOLLECT® Paediatric collections

Cat. No. ... 450413 (NOT finger-prick for (image not available)
Coagulation tests)

ORDER OF DRAW CHART

1. Sterile samples (eg: Blood Cultures)
2. SST™II Gel [ ] Plain Serum tubes [ ]
3. Citrate tubes* [ ] ACD tubes [ ]
4. PST™II Gel tubes [ ] Heparin tubes [ ]
5. EDTA tubes [ ][ ]
6. Fluoride Oxalate (glucose tubes) [ ]
* Coagulation Tests—When collection is by vacuum tube the coagulation tube should be collected second to avoid artefactual shortening
of coagulation assays due to trauma of venesection. If no other tube is required then collect two blue-top tubes and discard the first.
When blood is collected from an arterial line discard the first 20 mL of blood to clear any heparin from the line before collecting the
blood for coagulation tests.
ESR—In accordance with NCCLS1 recommendations, ESR tubes should be placed at position 3 above. However, because their position
&

in the order is not as critical as for citrate specimens for coagulation testing, it is common practice to place this tube at the end of the list to
provide greater priority to tubes that will generally be required for more clinically important tests.

1. NCCLS document H3-A5 “Procedures for the Collection of Diagnostic Blood Specimens by Venipuncture”. 5th Edition, Dec. 2003.

Document No: Tube Guide for Common Tests V1.6.doc Page: 2 of 2