Skin Puncture and Blood Collection for Infants

2025-02-26T12:18:43-05:00

Please note that this video contains footage of blood being drawn from adults and infants and a still image of the feet of a deceased infant.

This training video produced by the Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio teaches phlebotomists how to draw blood via skin puncture of the heels of newborns and infants, a safer and easier method than using veins and arteries. Daniel Mann, Administrative Director of Laboratory Services at the Children's Hospital, narrates the video, and Dr. Charles Reiner explains why the heel is the best puncture point for newborns and infants. A group of hospital laboratory staff (Carlotta Thompson, Debbie Messer-Wright, Teresa Cooper, and Karis Glassco) demonstrate proper techniques on an adult's finger. The last 20 minutes of the video are silent footage of a blood draw on an infant.