Specimen Requirements

Specimen must arrive within 2 hours of draw. If unable to transport specimen to the laboratory within 2 hours then spin down, separate, and freeze the plasma. Transport the sample frozen. Specimen Type: Blood Container/Tube: Light-blue top (3.2% sodium citrate) Specimen Volume: 90% full tube Collection Instructions: 1. When using butterfly, draw a discard tube prior to sodium citrate tube. 2. Invert several times to mix blood. 3. Do not centrifuge. 4. Tube must remain stoppered. 5. Clotted or hemolyzed blood or an insufficient specimen is not acceptable. Avoid grossly hemolyzed, icteric, or lipemic specimen.