A comparison of the quality of blood specimens drawn in the field by EMS versus specimens obtained in the emergency department.

Introduction Emergency Department (ED) acceptance of blood specimens drawn by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff is not a consistent standard of practice across hospitals. The literature does not address acceptance of pre-hospital phlebotomy specimens drawn by EMS staff. The purpose of this study was to compare specimen redraw rates and ED throughput times for specimens drawn by EMS versus ED staff. Methods Data was collected on 400 patients regarding phlebotomist type, intravenous (IV) site, IV angiocatheter size, number of IV attempts producing blood specimens, redraw reason, undue blood exposure to phlebotomist, diagnosis, and length of stay. Results In this study of 400 patients (EMS=200; ED=200), the redraw rate was higher for the ED group (11.5%) than the EMS group (9.5%). The primary reason for redraw in the EMS group was insufficient quantity (52.6%; ED=8.7%, p Discussion Based on no statistically significant differences between the two study groups in redraw rates, a decreased ED patient throughput time, and no undue blood exposure incidences, pre-hospital phlebotomy by EMS in the field and subsequent ED acceptance of samples is a standard of practice that can be implemented.