Asked by: Racha Malaxetxebarria
Asked in category: medical health, medical tests
Last Updated: 30th Apr 2024

What order should Lab tubes be drawn?

The draw-order for specimen tubes goes as follows:
  1. Blood culture
  2. Blue tube for coagulation (Sodium Citrate).
  3. Red No Gel
  4. Gold SST (Plain tube with gel and Clot activator additive
  5. Heparin with or without gel, Green and Dark Green
  6. Lavender (EDTA)
  7. Pink - Blood Bank (EDTA).
  8. Gray (Oxalate/Fluoride).



What order should the blood tubes be drawn in this context?

This is the correct order to draw:

  1. Bottle or blood culture tube
  2. Sodium citrate tube (eg. blue closure).
  3. Serum tubes with clot activator or gels, such as red, red-speckled and gold closures
  4. Heparin tube without or with gel (eg dark green, lightgreen, speckled-green closures)

How do I also remember the order of my blood draws? What mnemonic can you use to remind or teach the correct order of draw? Example: "Studious Boys Rarely get Low Grades" = Sterile (blue, red, green), lavender, gray. )a

What is the order of draw for a syringe when it's used?

When transferring blood from a Syringe to evacuated tubes, the same order applies as with Order of Draw. When the tubes are being filled, do not press on the plunger of your syringe. When the tubes are filled, the vacuum will pull the sample out of the syringe.

Which test is in which color tube?

Tube cap color Additive Common laboratory tests
Green Sodium or lithium Heparin without or with gel Routine and stat chemistry
Pink or lavender Potassium EDTA Hematology and blood bank
Gray Sodium fluoride and sodium or potassium oxide Glucose (especially if testing is delayed), blood alcohol and lactic acid