Do not freeze blood before collecting serum. Do not force blood through needles. Do not use outdated corvac or SST tubes. Do not submit blood samples in syringes. The tubes should be spun and the serum be removed and placed in a clean tube and refrigerated.
Screw capped tubes are preferable to snap cap tubes or tubes with rubber stoppers.
Do not freeze whole blood or samples with the clot remaining. It is not necessary to remove the serum from the SST tubes prior to shipping. Number the tubes consecutively, matching the actual tube number with the tube number written on the serology submission form. Use permanent marker to identify tubes. Grease pencil marks are easily rubbed off, and labels fall off during the heating process necessary for some tests.