Cotinine, Umbilical Cord

94000

6 inch umbilical cord submitted in a plastic, screw-cap container

1. Cut a 6 inch segment of the umbilical cord. This will be the collected specimen.
2. Pinch the specimen between the finger and thumb, then run your fingers down the specimen 3-4 times to drain excess blood. Discard any excess blood.
3. Rinse the exterior/outside of the specimen with normal saline or an equivalent rinsing solution.

Important: Prevent the umbilical cord and specimen from coming in contact with ethanol-based liquids or vapors previous to and during the collection process. This includes ethanol-based hand sanitizer and alcohol prep pads.

4. Pat the specimen dry and place it in the specimen container.
5. Place the newborn’s ID number on the specimen container (the newborn’s name is optional). The ID number may be the medical record number, hospital laboratory accession number, or any other unique identifying number of the collection facility’s choosing. The hospital patient ID label/sticker may be utilized to satisfy this step.
6. Fill out the Custody and Control Form. Please verify that the pre-printed company information is correct in the Client section of the form: (See Figure 1)

Figure 1:
        6a. Place the newborn’s ID number on the Custody and 
              Control Form in the Patient/Donor
              section (the newborn’s name is optional). A hospital
              patient ID label/sticker may be utilized to
              satisfy this step.

         6b. Mark the specimen type box for Umbilical Cord.

         6c. Mark the test(s) requested to be performed in the
               Test(s) Requested section. Check all that
               apply.

7. The specimen container must be sealed with a tamper-evident seal. Match/verify the newborn’s information on the Custody and Control Form with the newborn’s information on the specimen container. Peel off one of the bar-coded, tamper-evident specimen seals located at the bottom of the Custody and Control Form. Place the bar-coded, tamper-evident seal over the cap. Failure to place a tamper-evident seal over the cap will result in a “Rejected Specimen".
8. Initial and date the tamper-evident specimen seal(s).
9. Print, sign, and date in the Collector/Processor Certification section of the Custody and Control Form.
10. Place the original, white copy (Copy 1 LAB Copy) of the Custody and Control Form in the large pouch of the plastic specimen bag provided.
11. Place the sealed specimen container in the small pouch of the specimen bag and seal the specimen bag.
12. Place the sealed specimen bag in the transport box provided.
13. Place the specimen box in an appropriate courier transport overwrap.
14. Contact your courier for pick-up. Specimens should be kept refrigerated in a secure area until they are ready to be shipped.

Room temperature

Room temperature: 7 days
Refrigerated: 21 days
Frozen: 1 year

Mismatched id's • No identification • Profile not indicated • Improper collection • Damaged/leaked • Broken security seal • Quantity not sufficient • No requisition form • Missing collection date • Failure to place tamper-evident seal over the cap

Set up: Mon-Fri a.m.; Report available: 1-3 days

See Laboratory Report