Supplies for Submission
Royal Blue Top (1) EDTA trace-free
Specimen Collection
- Collect 7 mL blood in royal blue, trace metal-free tube with EDTA.
- Label this tube with two identifiers. Acceptable identifiers include patient’s name, date of birth, social security number, requisition number, and medical record number.
- Centrifuge within 2 hours of collection.
- Remove ALL plasma from the cells and discard plasma.
- Refrigerate the remaining red blood cells (minimum 0.6 mL) in the original collection tube labelled appropriately as "rbcs."
Storage Requirements
Refrigerated.
After separation from cells, specimens are stable if stored at room temperature for 1 week or refrigerated for 1 week.
Causes for Rejections
Frozen specimens are not accepted.