useful for situations which require that the sample be transported from the patient to a different location for evaluation i e where an automated coagulation detection apparatus is not readily available for example it is often desirable to perform a platelet function test after a patient has been moved from the operating room to the intensive care unit in such a case the blood sample must be transported back to the operating room or to another location such as a clinical laboratory for testing the present invention thus provides a convenient alternative to bedside testing by allowing hospital personnel to transport blood samples for testing without concern for distance from the laboratory and without the need for recording time of draw and instructions regarding the timing of the test the invention is further described by the following examples which are illustrative of specific modes of practicing the invention and are not intended as limiting the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims all solvents and reagents employed in the examples were used as received from the manufacturer bovine serum albumin bsa was purchased from sigma chemical co st louis mo sigma product a 3803 bovine lung heparin was purchased from the upjohn company kalamazoo mich paf was purchased from sigma chemical co st.