Specimen Requirements

Specimen must arrive within 4 hours of draw.

BD  Bactec® collection bottles (Plus aerobic/F[gray and blue top], Lytic/10 Anaerobic [purple-top], or Peds Plus/F [pink top]) must be used for this procedure.

Collection Recommendations:

1. Adults - use a 2-bottle set, 20 mL (minimum volume:  10 mL) of blood per draw, divided into 2 bottles, aerobic and anaerobic. Draw >1 hour apart.

2. Pediatric draw using pediatric  bottle - 0.5 mL to 3mL of blood per draw.

4. Acute sepsis, meningitis, pneumonia, etc. - draw 2 sets from 2 separate sites, >1 hour apart, before starting antimicrobial therapy.

5. Continuous bacteremia and suspected endocarditis - draw 3 sets from 3 separate sites, >1 hour apart, before starting antimicrobial therapy.

6. Patients on antimicrobial therapy - draw set prior to next dose of antibiotic.

7. Fever of unknown origin - draw 2 sets from 2 separate sites >1 hour apart. Draw 2 more sets at 24 hours and 36 hours.

Prepare Blood Culture Bottles:

1. Aseptically remove plastic cap from blood culture bottles.

2. Swab rubber stopper on each bottle with 70% alcohol. Wait 1 minute to allow drying.

Patient Preparation:

1. Apply tourniquet to patient’s arm.

2. Palpate area to locate vein.

3. Remove tourniquet.

4. Prepare arm using a Chlora-Prep® Blood Culture Prep Kit as follows:

A. Remove prep from kit. Hold applicator with sponge facing downward. Gently squeeze wings, releasing solution for a controlled flow. Press sponge against selected site to saturate.

B. Scrub vigorously back and forth (friction scrub) for 30 seconds (2 minutes for wet sites). Allow to dry for 30 seconds.

Draw Blood:

1. Reapply tourniquet. Do not touch site.

2.  A butterfly device in a standard Vacutainer hub must be used.  Bottles must remain upright.  If the patient has a line, a syringe must be used to draw the blood and then immediately transferred to the bottles.

3. Draw 10 mL of blood for each culture bottle (1-4 mL for pediatric bottle).

4. Release tourniquet, and apply pressure to venipuncture site with a sterile gauze while removing needle from vein.

5. Introduce blood into BD BacTec® bottles.

6. Label bottles with patient’s name (first and last), date and actual time of draw, and type of specimen.

7. Maintain sterility and forward promptly at ambient temperature only.

Note:  1. A maximum of 3 blood cultures (6 bottles) may be drawn in a 24-hour period. Only draw >3 blood cultures in 24 hours if the physician is notified and specifies that it is necessary.

2. Specimen source is required on request form for processing.