The term phlebotomy is an old term that Webster defines as the
"letting of blood for the treatment of disease". Phlebotomy is
one of the oldest medical procedures performed, as it was
believed that withdrawing blood would return the body back to a
healthy state. Today, the term used for the procedure of blood
letting is "therapeutic phlebotomy" and is performed as the
treatment of very few blood disorders while the general term
"phlebotomy" is used for the procedure of drawing a blood sample
for a laboratory test. Many laboratories have a specialized
personnel called phlebotomists who are trained to draw blood
samples and return them to the laboratory for analysis by the
Medical Technologist or other analytical personnel The
phlebotomist is a very important part of the laboratory team.
The first step in assuring results is obtaining a good and
properly collected blood specimen. The phlebotomist has many
things to consider when drawing a blood sample: - Correctly
identifying the patient. - Correctly drawing th