Drawing Blood

From time to time as an EMT, you will have to draw blood from a patient. There are a few important steps to follow when drawing blood. In this blog I will go over those steps.

1. The first step when drawing blood is to find the right vein. You want to find the most common point which runs on the inner part of the forearm.
2. Next you want to prep the chosen location and gently pat down on the vein and look at it's size to determine the best angle in which to draw the blood at.
3. Insert the needle into the vein whcih a smooth fast motion. The fast motion equals less pain for the patient.
4. Push the blood specimen tube into the holder keeping the needle steady. It will automatically fill the right amount of blood needed.
5. Pull the needle out at the same angle you inserted it once the last specimen is collected then dispose of the needle and apply gauze to the patient's wound.

After these steps you will have successfully drawn blood from a patient. Although this is a step that not all EMT's have to do on a daily basis, it is important to know how to properly draw blood from a patient.