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Step 1: Identify Patient Specimen Contains HBOC.

• Specimens from HBOC-treated patients should be labeled conspicuously.

SPECIMEN MAY CONTAIN HBOC DO NOT DISCARD FOR HEMOLYSIS.

• If there is no label (i.e., in an emergency), technicians must rely on some method of direct communication from the attending doctor that the specimen contains an HBOC. After centrifugation, the serum or plasma will appear pink, red or purple. Without proper label identification or direct communication, the sample may be discarded erroneously (or flagged as requiring another aliquot to be drawn from the patient) because it is NOT possible to distinguish between red cell hemolysis and an HBOC.
• A specimen may be both hemolyzed and contain HBOC. There is no visual method to distinguish between the native hemoglobin from hemolyzed red blood cells of the patient and the polymerized hemoglobin from the drug. If such a distinction is necessary, immunologic testing is required to distinguish the bovine hemoglobin from the patient's hemoglobin.
• Go to Step 2.