The Flash

You know it's a good sign, when you get a flash--the first sign of red blood that oozes out of the butterfly tube. And then with a push of a tube, you have it, a nice flow of red warm blood that quickly drips to fill the tube.

Phlebotomy is a fancy term used to describe drawing blood. Today, I drew my first blood. To be exact, I drew 2 tubes worth, one from my each of my classmate's arms. After a quick five minute demonstration, we gathered our equipment and materials: a lavendar-top tube, a container for the tube, a butterfly needle, a tourniquet, a cotton ball, and an alcohol pad.

In no time, we were applying tourniquets on the arm to enhance visualization and feel of the veins in the arm. And once identified, the vein was then pierced with a need until blood was withdrawn. It was as simple as that.

We are being trained, so that we can effectively draw blood from our patients at Clinica Martin Baro, a new student-run clinic and other future clinical sites. Now that I have drawn blood on a classmate, I am prepared to venture into the clinical world to draw my patients labs.

I left the training session with one band-aid on each arm. Oh, how I hate to peel the band-aid off my arm. But also having learned a new skill.

It is strange being pierced and poked and having a needle resting in your vein. Watching the dark red blood leave your arm is so bizarre, but interesting at the same time. Today was about learning--which also involves both performing the blood draw and experiencing the discomfort our patients will feel the next time we wait to see the flash.

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Image: "Venipuncture." http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/cme/clia/images/testID13/Image06A.jpg