Unit 5: Hemoglobin Testing 6 Original: October 1999 Revision: September 2010 Before you learn about how to use the HemoCue machine and take blood from clients, you need to learn about anemia and the causes of anemia.
Skin has three layers: 1  The epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, provides a waterproof barrier and creates our skin tone. 2  The dermis, beneath the epidermis, contains tough connective tissue, hair follicles, and sweat glands. 3  The deeper subcutaneous tissue (hypodermis) is made of fat and connective tissue.
Learning how the skin functions begins with an understanding of the structure of the three layers of skin: the epidermis, the dermis, and subcutaneous tissue. The Epidermis. The epidermis is the outermost layer of the three layers of skin. Its thickness depends on where it is located on the body. For example, it's thinnest on the eyelids (half a millimeter). On the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, it's thickest (1.5 millimeters). There are five layers of the epidermis: 1  Stratum basale: This bottom layer, which is also known as the basal cell layer, has column-shaped basal cells that divide and push older cells toward the surface of the skin. As the cells move up through the skin, they flatten and eventually die and shed.