To address a worldwide blood tube shortage, the following initiatives will be put in place:
- All outpatient areas will utilize gold-top tubes instead of light green.
- Extra tubes will not be drawn.
- Emergency Departments and inpatient draws will be modified to draw only one light green tube instead of two.
- Gold-top tubes will only be drawn in the Emergency Departments if a lithium, procalcitonin, GGT, or salicylate is ordered.
- All unused labels must be sent to the laboratory for aliquot tubes.
- The laboratory will process the single tubes by separating them for the testing required.