1. Collect blood cultures prior to commencement of antibiotic therapy.
2. Remove plastic flip top from culture bottle and disinfect with an alcohol pad or equivalent. This is important because the bottle septum is not sterile.
3. Adult: 8-10mL of blood per bottle (aerobic and anaerobic).
Paediatric: 1-3 mL of blood per bottle (Peds Plus/F).
Line demarcations on the bottle label should be used to assist in estimating the sample volume.
4. Do not use of blunt needles or coring devices to puncture the stopper. These prevent sealing of the inoculation hole, leading to aeration or allowing the sample to leak.
5. The barcode labels on the bottle are for laboratory use ONLY. Do not remove or obscure the peel-off stickers. |