Single-Use Blood Collection Devices Help Ensure Safety of Patients and Healthcare Workers

ORLANDO, Fla. -- BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a global medical technology company and leader in patient and healthcare worker safety-engineered devices and technologies, commends the National Phlebotomy Association (NPA) for reaffirming its opposition to the reuse of blood tube holders.

In a statement issued earlier today at the International Congress of Clinical Chemistry in Orlando, the NPA urged phlebotomists and other healthcare workers to stop reusing blood tube holders for patient blood collections. The statement cited a study completed by the NPA, which revealed that 99 percent of sampled reusable holders were contaminated with blood, creating an unnecessary risk of exposure to HIV, hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B virus and other bloodborne pathogens for healthcare workers and patients.

According to NPA CEO Diane Crawford, the association has always supported single-use devices. However, the results of the NPA study, the rise in antibiotic resistant pathogens and the prevalence of healthcare-associated infections prompted the association to strengthen its stance against reusing blood tube holders. Wed like to see all phlebotomists, nurses and physicians use blood collection needles and holders

that are designed for single usepreferably with pre-attached holders, Crawford says. There is simply no reason to jeopardize the safety of healthcare workers or patients when devices that can virtually prevent reuse are readily available. Holders that are pre-attached to safety-engineered blood collection needles and sets may offer the highest level of infection prevention and control.

A longtime proponent of healthcare worker and patient safety, BD offers several single-use blood collection needles and blood collection sets with pre-attached holders: The BD Vacutainer® Eclipse Blood Collection Needle with built-in safety shield, BD Vacutainer® Safety-Lok Blood Collection Set with large, flexible wings and BD Vacutainer® Push Button Blood Collection Set with in-vein activation. BD has developed the widest range of safety-engineered blood collection needles with pre-attached holders to address specimen collection needs, says Amber Hogan, manager of safety and health affairs at BD. Each holder is engraved, DO NOT REUSE and SINGLE USE ONLY to encourage single-use compliance.

West Clinic, a facility in Memphis, Tenn. that performs up to 300 blood draws a day, adopted the BD Vacutainer Safety-Lok Blood Collection Set with pre-attached holder to improve healthcare worker and patient safety and streamline operations. Switching to BD pre-attached holders has saved us time and simplified our ordering and purchasing processes, explains phlebotomy manager Prindell Lane. Our 14 full-time phlebotomists like the one-handed safety feature, and BD needles have a nice draw.

The NPA joins other prominent healthcare associations and regulatory agencies that have recognized the risks of reusing blood collection holders:

-- A 2003 OSHA Safety and Health Information Bulletin prohibited the reuse of tube holders to protect healthcare workers from contaminated back-end needles (SHIB 10-15-03).

-- That same year, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America recommended the adoption of single-use medical devices to prevent the spread of microbes and the rise of new antibiotic resistance.

Source: BD