If you’ve ever given a blood sample, you know that the process can be pretty straightforward. You fill out the questionnaire and answer a few questions from the nurse, give your blood sample, and then you’re done.
But what happens to your sample after you leave? This article explores the incidences after you have given out a blood sample.
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It is Labelled
As soon as you give your blood sample, the nurse will place it in a small vial. As this is a single-use vial, it is only meant to be used once and disposed of accordingly. The nurse will put a permanent label across the top of the vial. The label has information about your name, address, and contact details.
It also gives the word ‘Donor’ and a unique number that identifies you as the donor. Your blood is safe with the correct blood sample labels as it doesn’t get mixed up.
Your Sample Goes to a Lab
Your blood is taken immediately and labelled to a lab for analysis. Once at the lab, your blood is put into a special machine and analyzed. The analysis results will come in three to five days after you have given the sample. This can be a bit alarming for some people as they wonder what’s happening, but rest assured that your sample is safe and protected during this process.
It is Tested for Diseases
Because it goes to a lab for testing, this means that your blood sample can be tested for diseases. This is also part of the standard procedure for giving out a blood sample. Your results will come out three to five days (depending on the facility and tests) after you have given the sample, and there’s no need to worry because your results are taken very seriously.
Before and after every test is completed, it must be thoroughly checked by medical experts.
It Is Frozen for Safekeeping
Your blood sample is stored in the lab in a special freezer throughout the testing process. This is done to ensure that your blood samples are still in safe hands and that they remain free from contamination throughout the process and after analysis has been done.
They are mostly stored in ult freezers as these are the best options for delicate products. However, they will be thawed now and then when required. Although this can be worrying, rest assured that all your samples are safe at all times and are kept under very stringent conditions at the lab and during transportation from there to wherever it needs to go next.
Disposal
Once your blood sample has been analyzed and returned, it then goes to an incinerator where all things once thought to be living are burned up so they won’t end up being harmful to anyone. Your DNA will not be harmed in this process. All this is done following highly safe biomedical standards.
Conclusion
Well, a lot goes on after the blood is collected. The steps depend on the ultimate use of the blood. For example, if it is for transfusions, it goes through a rigorous series of tests and treatments to ensure that it is safe and healthy before the transfusions.
If it is for research purposes, they will screen it and store it safely for retrieval at a later date. Once the research is over, it is disposed of as medical waste.