It takes many health care professionals to help a client  navigate through their health journey.  Blood tests will play a major component in determining  a patient’s diagnosis  and monitoring their health while on treatment.

Watch the process of how blood tests are collected, tested, interpreted and reported in BC at the LifeLabs facility in Burnaby BC.

Blood collection & receipt

^{Blood collection recorded at BCIT campus by Lindsay Belloc, Heather McMullen, Emily Frawley, & Jennifer Kong.  Videotour of LifeLabs facility in Burnaby BC conducted by Lindsay Belloc, Emily Frawley, & Jennifer Kong. Narration by Riley Belloc. Licensed under All Rights Reserved}

Blood tests:  Hematology

^{Videotour of LifeLabs facility in Burnaby BC conducted by Lindsay Belloc, Emily Frawley, & Jennifer Kong. Licensed under All Rights Reserved}

Blood tests:  Chemistry

^{Videotour of LifeLabs facility in Burnaby BC conducted by Lindsay Belloc, Emily Frawley, & Jennifer Kong. Licensed under All Rights Reserved}

Section Review

For two common blood tests (hematology and chemistry), blood is collected from the patient in tubes with colour coded tops that designate the type of blood test.   In the case of the chemistry test, the blood has to be spun down to separate the plasma/serum from the blood cells.

The blood vials are delivered to Lifelabs, the largest specialty laboratory testing facility in Western Canada.   The blood vials are registered (accessioned) and sent to the respective testing area within Lifelabs.

Chemistry tests are examined in the chemistry analzyer machine which measures components in the plasma/serum such as electrolytes (e.g. Na+, K+), nutrients (e.g. glucose), enzymes (e.g. liver function test) and much more – depending on the tests requisitioned for the patient.  After the test results are obtained and sent electronically to the health care provider, the blood tubes are refrigerated and stored for up to 7 days in the likelihood that the provider would like further testing and avoiding the patient having to give blood again.

Hematology tests are examined by the hematology analyzer which can separate and calculate the different types and number of blood cells/formed elements based on their size.  If a sample yields an abnormal result, it is diverted to have a peripheral blood smear prepared for microscopic analysis.  A MLT will first look at the peripheral blood smear and determine whether it needs further analysis by the hematopathologist.  Using special computer analysis and personal viewing of the blood cells, the hematopathologist can determine whether urgent communication of these results to the patient and health care provider are needed.

Review Questions