It’s safe to say that few people enjoy getting their blood-drawn. From the cold room with fluorescent lighting to the eerily empty ambiance, it can be off-putting. For many, it may even be crowned the bane of their week.
Yet, it just takes a few smiles and a little bit of human warmth to lighten the mood. However, one patient claims she experienced the exact opposite.
“A phlebotomist tried to draw blood for me using tools in a tray that had another patient’s blood splatter in it,” she exclaims.
And that’s not even the half of it.
The story starts with routine lab work
Sitting at 716,00 views and 90,100 likes, TikTok user Elena (@lena_dressesup) voiced the recent horror story in a video posted just two days ago that has since accumulated more than 716,000 views.
In the video, the San Francisco local sits in her home and shares her experience. After seemingly endless responses, Elena has since posted two follow-up stories, answering the update demands.
Elena takes a breath and starts her story from the beginning.
“I went to get some routine lab work done at a LabCorp,” Elena begins. “When I was called back by the phlebotomist, I looked into the tray […] and it looked like there was blood.”
According to Elena, the tray which held the syringe, gauze, and even needle for her quick procedure looked a little out of the ordinary. However, believing that there was no way that could be the case, Elena held her tongue.
Is this how a phlebotomist should behave?
“The phlebotomist started to look at my veins to do the blood draw and was visibly irritated that I have tattoos in my elbow ditch,” Elena says.
At this point the phlebotomist allegedly began rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Hearing this, commenters were quick to respond, claiming that already, the phlebotomist was in bad practice.
“A good phlebotomist does not rely on visualizing the vein, seeing it is just extra confirmation,” one comment stated, receiving over 6,000 likes.
And they were correct. A phlebotomist, which is a medical professional who draws blood, should know how to feel for a vein rather than look. This is because many veins may not always be visible to the naked eye.
So seemingly frustrated, Elena proceeds to call her phlebotomist out for what she perceived to be as blood in the tray.
“I don’t think it is, but is that blood in the tray?” Elena reenacted.
The specialist was caught off guard.
“He was like, ‘Oh shoot,’” Elena says.
But what allegedly happens next is the highlight of it all.
How did the phlebotomist handle the issue?
“He then proceeded to pump hand sanitizer onto a piece of gauze and wipe the blood from the tray,” Elena says.
Then rather than collecting new supplies, the phlebotomist does the exact opposite.
“He took out the materials that he had assembled and used more hand sanitizer to wipe out the tray. Then he proceeded to put everything back into the tray. All the contaminated supplies, and act like he was good to continue,” Elena says.
Trying to now take Elena’s blood with the supplies in the tray, Elena took it upon herself to ask him to change his gloves before doing so.
“I pointed out that he should be doing a glove change after he touched an unsterile surface. I also pointed out that hand sanitizer doesn’t kill bloodborne pathogens,” Elena says.
Does hand sanitizer kill bloodborne pathogens?
And while hand sanitizer can kill these pathogens to some extent, it isn’t 100%. A program conducted by Penn State University claims that diluted bleach with a 1:10 ratio with water is one of the most effective solutions. Such a combination can kill these pathogens in 1-2 minutes.
“He was becoming visibly irritated with me,” Elena says.
At this point, Elena began to grow uncomfortable. After being both a vet technician and a PhD biologist, Elena decided it may be best to walk away from the situation and get her blood drawn at another time.
“The phlebotomist was so irritated, he acted like I was being hysterical, so I go and take some deep breaths in the lobby,” Elena says.
Elena posts two follow-up videos
Luckily for Elena, she was able to see a different phlebotomist the same day, also at LabCorp. Elena claims that this was a much healthier experience and was both professional and sterile the entire time. However, her first interaction still put her at unease.
“It felt like this whole situation was really disturbing,” Elena says.
Believing that a follow-up needs to be done, Elena posted two concurrent videos just yesterday. Within these video’s Elena responds to her audience and shares that she’s made formal reports.
“I have now filed reports with the city department of Public Health and with Labcorp, itself,” Elena says.
And while it’s unclear what the final outcome may be of this entire interaction, Elena has been sure to update her viewers as the situation continues.
@lena_dressesup Replying to @Naomi ♬ original sound – 𝔢𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔞🐦⬛🌙
The Daily Dot reached out to Elena (@lena_dressesup) via TikTok direct message for comment. The Daily Dot also reached out to LabCorp for comment via press email.
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