Procedure for Collection of Blood Cultures
Adult Patients
Use one AEROBIC-PLUS (silver cap) and one ANAEROBIC-PLUS (golden cap) bottle for
EACH TIME a blood culture is drawn. Do not use the bottle if cloudy, gassy, hemolyzed or cracked.
RETURN IT TO DOCTORS LABORATORY FOR INVESTIGATION. The yellow and red resin beads in these bottles are specially added to neutralize antibiotics, so do not be alarmed by them. You may use either a 20cc Luer-lok syringe, a "Vacutainer" blood collection adapter, or a butterfly assembly to collect blood.
Prepare the drawing site by cleansing with 70% alcohol, then iodine. Let it dry. Flip off the plastic caps from blood culture bottles. Cleanse the rubber septum with 70% alcohol only.
DO NOT USE IODINE ON THE BOTTLE TOP. Draw 18-20cc of blood and inject 8-10cc of blood into each bottle. Mix each bottle by gently inverting 2-3 times. Write the patient's name, date, and time collected on the attached label only. Be sure that the bar code on the bottle is not covered by any writing.
PLEASE DO NOT INCUBATE THESE BOTTLES! LEAVE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE!
The recommended amount of blood in each bottle is 8-10cc. If you have a patient with problem veins, draw at least 6cc of blood and inject 3cc into each bottle. If you can only draw 3cc of blood, put it all in the AEROBIC-PLUS bottle. Do not use an ANAEROBIC-PLUS bottle.
Pediatric Patients
Use only one PEDIATRIC-PLUS bottle. Draw 3cc of blood. The minimum amount required in this bottle is 0.5cc. If a PEDIATRIC-PLUS bottle is not available, inject 3cc of blood into an AEROBIC-PLUS bottle. An ANAEROBIC-PLUS bottle is not required in pediatric patients.