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Dennis J. Ernst MT(ASCP)
Center for Phlebotomy Education, Inc.
http://www.phlebotomy.com
For Immediate Release
A newly formed coalition is advocating personnel standards for healthcare personnel with blood specimen collection responsibilities. The Coalition for Phlebotomy Personnel Standards was founded to address the impact poorly collected specimens have on patient care in the form of inaccurate laboratory test results and patient injury as well as their impact on specimen collection systems and laboratory instrumentation The Coalition is dedicated to improving the quality of specimens collected in the US.
"Today, California is the only state with minimum training requirements for phlebotomists," says Coalition Coordinator Dennis Ernst. "In almost every other state, you need a license to style hair, but if you want to stick a needle into someone's arm to draw blood, no minimum training requirements exist. We'd like to change that."
Urged by manufacturers and organizations serving the clinical laboratory industry and by his own experiences as an expert witness in phlebotomy-related lawsuits, Ernst is pleased with the coalition's progress. "Since our exploratory meeting last year, the Coalition has assembled a diverse group of representatives from specimen collection product manufacturers, certification agencies, clinical laboratory membership associations and government agencies. So far the Coalition has identified individuals in nearly a dozen states who want to advance the cause of minimum training requirements and certification for specimen collection personnel through legislation."
"The response has been phenomenal," says Ernst. "There really has been a ground swell of support from all corners of the phlebotomy community. I think the industry has been anxious to advance the phlebotomy profession for the greater good."
The Coalition seeks to recruit new members and individuals in all states that would like to advance minimum training requirements in their states. As a means to reach its objectives, the Coalition would like to be a resource to those who share their vision for phlebotomy and to provide them with the support they need.
Participation in the Coalition is open to those who manufacture specimen collection products/systems and clinical laboratory instrumentation, clinical laboratory membership organizations, governmental agencies, certification organizations and patient/consumer advocacy groups. Interested parties are encouraged to contact Ernst by email at phlebotomy@phlebotomy.com or by calling the Center for Phlebotomy Education at 812-633-4636.
"It took a California phlebotomist to be caught rinsing and reusing needles on multiple patients for California to enact sweeping legislation mandating minimum training requirements for specimen collection personnel," says Ernst. "That was six years ago and not one state has followed suit. Will it take similar catastrophes in every state to get legislators to act? We hope not; but we're moving forward just in case." |
