Where to get quality phlebotmy equipment?

[Shrek]

Make sure you check your iron levels before you phlebotomise yourself or donate blood. Mine crash hard after a donation and it takes me a while to get it back up.

I'll be watching this thread as I've often thought of how I'd do it myself if one day I can't donate for some reason as my hematocrit gets up there too.

The 3ml tube in the arm method seems like it would work perfectly as ive thought of it too. You could probably use a smaller needle as when they take blood at lifelabs they use a 23g and that flows fast, blood donation uses a 16g. I'd bet a 20g would work just fine and be less gnarly to stick yourself with than that chopstick of a 16.

 

[Bigbear]

This victory express place seems cool. Even though I pay out of pocket they said just contact them anytime I need a phlebotomy. Seems like I won't even need a refferal

 

[DeeKnows]

Even though I have the same pretty much equipment as they have at the blood clinic, I still havn’t got the balls to try and puncture into the vein.

Maybe I should practice with some 25 gauge needles first?

25g wont flow easily. 18 or 16 g. You just gotta be deliberate when puncturing the skin and into vien. Do it just like when the nurse does it. Steady slow forward motion until it flows freely. Angle of bevel and pin is important too. Bevel facing up and pin/barrel angeled slightly so bevel gets in good position in vien lol. You can practice with no pin just barrel if u needed too.

 

[DeeKnows]

Make sure you check your iron levels before you phlebotomise yourself or donate blood. Mine crash hard after a donation and it takes me a while to get it back up.

I'll be watching this thread as I've often thought of how I'd do it myself if one day I can't donate for some reason as my hematocrit gets up there too.

The 3ml tube in the arm method seems like it would work perfectly as ive thought of it too. You could probably use a smaller needle as when they take blood at lifelabs they use a 23g and that flows fast, blood donation uses a 16g. I'd bet a 20g would work just fine and be less gnarly to stick yourself with than that chopstick of a 16.

20g wont flow for me. 16 or 18 works great.

 

[Bigbear]

Make sure you check your iron levels before you phlebotomise yourself or donate blood. Mine crash hard after a donation and it takes me a while to get it back up.

I'll be watching this thread as I've often thought of how I'd do it myself if one day I can't donate for some reason as my hematocrit gets up there too.

The 3ml tube in the arm method seems like it would work perfectly as ive thought of it too. You could probably use a smaller needle as when they take blood at lifelabs they use a 23g and that flows fast, blood donation uses a 16g. I'd bet a 20g would work just fine and be less gnarly to stick yourself with than that chopstick of a 16.

If you want extra help raising iron after take vitamin c with each Meal. It increases absorbtion

 

[Shrek]

I know I've heard some people say Amazon but I think it's all fake or practice equipment so it might not be sterile.

I found this place but don't know if it's trust worthy.

BAG BLOOD PHLEBOTOMY EMPTY 600ml w/16g UTW NDL & ADJ SIDE CLAMP

Shop Online for lowest prices on 696-1BBD606A in Canada. Free Shipping on qualifying orders within Canada.

lifesupply.ca

I can confirm that this site is legit, the blood bags are made by Terumo: 600ml with good length hose and 16g needle, and they work very well. I've bought Bac water from them before too fwiw.

I just did my first self phlebotomy and it took 5 min and change to fill up the bag, faster than a donation I assume because I was seated up and my heart was probably beating faster due to the circumstances. Reason for this draw was because I had a blood test done and my Hemo/etc was too high, my Iron was ok, but I'm still weeks out from when I can donate next so thought I'd give it a go and I feel much better now, and I'll reschedule my donation to a later date.

If you've donated blood you've seen it done so you know what to do, but here are some first hand tips for doing it yourself:

- Tie off your arm to get the vein presenting in such a way that you can pull the tab to untie it. There are youtube videos that show how to tie if needed, and flat resistance rubber bands work very well.

- Be seated on a low stool to get you in a good higher position than a chair relative to a bathroom counter.

- Put a dark color towel down under your arm, or one you don't plan on keeping, because you will likely bleed a bit inserting the needle as you can't do it as fast as a nurse can. Its a big pin so give it a good push to break the skin, then the blood may start to pour out and that means you're on the right vein, push it in farther and the hose will fill and you won't bleed externally any more

- Put a thin rubber band around your calf and feed the hose through and place the blood bag down next to your foot. This will keep it in a low position that allows gravity to draw your blood, and you can use your foot to rock the bag back and forth a bit like the machine at a blood donation clinic.

- Have a piece of tape handy to put across the hose on your arm to hold it in place, then you can untie the rubber band around your upper arm with your teeth or your free hand.

- When the bag is full and you're done just put a fresh piece of gauze that you should already have handy over the needle and pull it out, and apply another fresh piece of gauze to the pin spot and wrap it up.

- Proceed to cleaning up the crime scene that you may have just made.

As for the blood, cut the bag and drain it. Seems wasteful but what can you do

 

[Sorbate]

I can confirm that this site is legit, the blood bags are made by Terumo: 600ml with good length hose and 16g needle, and they work very well. I've bought Bac water from them before too fwiw.

I just did my first self phlebotomy and it took 5 min and change to fill up the bag, faster than a donation I assume because I was seated up and my heart was probably beating faster due to the circumstances. Reason for this draw was because I had a blood test done and my Hemo/etc was too high, my Iron was ok, but I'm still weeks out from when I can donate next so thought I'd give it a go and I feel much better now, and I'll reschedule my donation to a later date.

If you've donated blood you've seen it done so you know what to do, but here are some first hand tips for doing it yourself:

- Tie off your arm to get the vein presenting in such a way that you can pull the tab to untie it. There are youtube videos that show how to tie if needed, and flat resistance rubber bands work very well.

- Be seated on a low stool to get you in a good higher position than a chair relative to a bathroom counter.

- Put a dark color towel down under your arm, or one you don't plan on keeping, because you will likely bleed a bit inserting the needle as you can't do it as fast as a nurse can. Its a big pin so give it a good push to break the skin, then the blood may start to pour out and that means you're on the right vein, push it in farther and the hose will fill and you won't bleed externally any more

- Put a thin rubber band around your calf and feed the hose through and place the blood bag down next to your foot. This will keep it in a low position that allows gravity to draw your blood, and you can use your foot to rock the bag back and forth a bit like the machine at a blood donation clinic.

- Have a piece of tape handy to put across the hose on your arm to hold it in place, then you can untie the rubber band around your upper arm with your teeth or your free hand.

- When the bag is full and you're done just put a fresh piece of gauze that you should already have handy over the needle and pull it out, and apply another fresh piece of gauze to the pin spot and wrap it up.

- Proceed to cleaning up the crime scene that you may have just made.

As for the blood, cut the bag and drain it. Seems wasteful but what can you do

I never did it because I wasn’t sure how hard it was to get into the vein.

 

[Shrek]

I never did it because I wasn’t sure how hard it was to get into the vein.

It was relatively easy, just tie off your arm and make a fist and your veins will enlarge, and its the big one leading up from the pit of your elbow up your bicep, and it will take a similar amount of pressure as pinning gear assuming the needle is sharp which it should be.

Some more things I read on the subject before I did this:

Vein roll can be an issue pinning into a large vein which is why I pinned a bit slower to make sure the vein didn't roll away to one side when pressure was applied as a nurse will use their other hand to stabilize the vein.

And go in on a low angle to make sure you don't go through the vein. A 30 degree angle is what's said to do when taking phlebotomy training. I probably went in somewhere between 20 and 30 degrees, with the cut-away of the needle tip facing up.