Here's a Link to the Student Evaluation Page (Select Phlebotomy)

Checkitout!!! The RTC Halloween Video!

Go Jennifer!
Jennifer and John have a cameo or two in this Halloween video produced by RTC. Can you recognize your friends?????

1026 Class Photos

We finally had some time for Class Photos Today! A couple are a little bit fuzzy, but here they are! You should be able to download copies if you want!

See you soon!

In Lieu of a Class Photo....A Class Video!

We have been having trouble getting a class photo, so here we present a class video. It's not perfect, but the musical accompaniment is awesome and it features most of the students in the class.

Thanks Liz!

1018 Blood Draws

We saw draws of every description today -- ETS, butterfly, syringe and capillary. You guys are looking better and better in the lab. Many phlebotomists went for 3 or more draws today! The first group leaves next week for clinicals and we will have only five more days (next Tuesday, the 25th is a "non-contact" (read "student holiday") day, so we will be losing another day...

Here's today's draws... More soon....

1017 Blood Draws

1012 Blood Draws

Hello Again!

Here are today's videos. Considering my track record, I captured quite a few draws today! You guys are looking better and better every day...(and your draws are improving too!)

1012 Lab Stills

We spent more time in the lab today, mocking procedures and practicing capillary and ETS blood draws. You guys are getting Good!

Here are a few stills...

The Olympics!

Simone reopened the lab for a round of afternoon draws with an Olympic theme. For these draws, four students acted as judges, dinging students for a variety of infractions. There were some really good draws and the students' level seemed to improve as the games went on! Everyone seemed focused and poised under pressure. Good job everybody!

1011 Blood Draws

Captured a few regular blood draws in the morning and a few more during our Olympics. Here are some morning draws.

1007 Blood Draws in the Lab

Here are some videos of today's draws... Enjoy!

1006 The Lone Blood Draw

I was only able to capture one draw today... Amber drawing Lindsey. I'll try to get more draws next week!

1006 A couple of photos from another In-Service

Another day with just a couple of photos! Too busy this term....

These show a fairly typical in-service session in the lab...

1005 A couple photos from Simone's In-Service

1004 Blood Draws

1003 Infant CPR -- Cruel to be Kind

Here is a short clip of Choking Infant CPR practice. Remember, you want to be effective first, nice/gentle second.

1003 CPR/First Aid Day 1

Today was the first day of CPR and First Aid with Johnny and Dot.

1003 Dorsal Draw In-Service, LabShare with MAs

Today Simone gave an in-service on dorsal draws using the butterfly needle or winged infusion set.
The MAs, who are heading out to clinicals next week, also joined us in the lab today for a final sign-off on their various blood-drawing skills.

Windy's CPR Demo

CPR-certified student Windy was helping students preview the CPR process in class. Here is a video to help you with your own CPR practices! (Don't forget to survey the scene for safety before going in to help a victim (casualty)!)

0930 Blood Draws

What our second big day of testing today, I wasn't able to spend much time in the lab, but here are a few blood draws that you can review.
Remember to keep your eye on the needle when you set the safety lock and keep downward pressure on the arm from the needle hand!

Surinder Joins the Phlebotomy Wall of Fame

Expect the unexpected!

Today, during the first week of blood draws, Surinder didn't have a drawing partner. Simone decided to have him draw her (normally a very challenging draw!). Surinder was up to the challenge, and after some initial difficulty, he was able to troubleshoot the draw and join the Wall of Fame! It is unusual for a phlebotomist to draw Simone successfully so early in the term! Congratulations Surinder! (Wadiya kam kita!)



Don't forget to check out our other Wall-of-Famers on the Wall of Fame Page. (Click the link below the class picture!)

0929 Blood Draws

We have now been drawing blood for a full week! Congratulations phlebotomists!

Tomorrow our second week of drawing blood will begin. Next week is going to be busy, with First Aid, followed by CPR (on Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday) and I'm guessing that Simone may introduce dorsal draws using the butterfly (winged infusion set) toward the end of next week.

The videos will be uploading for an hour or so, so please check back if yours isn't ready yet.

Can you spell Arteriovenous shunt (fistula)?

Today we had the pleasure of visiting with David Grant, Outreach Coordinator at RTC, to hear his story about dialysis, the importance of good phlebotomy skills and what an ateriovenous (A/V) shunt (fistula) is. At the end of his presentation, the students got to don their gloves and palpate the area around the shunt, where you can feel a "thrill." (A "thrill" is a vibratory sensation felt on the skin overlying an area of turbulence...in this case, arterial bloodflow).
...gives new significance to the lyrics of the song "The Thrill is Gone!"

0927 Blood Draws

Here are a few of the draws that I captured on the 27th. I will try to spend more time in the lab over the next couple of days and get more of your draws on line.

0927 Jennifer's Birthday!!!!!

Jennifer celebrated her birthday today! Although we weren't able to capture the devil's food cake with chocolate buttercream frosting, we did capture the initial moments of abject surprise.

Enjoy the photos!

0923 RTC Phlebotomy Fall Quarter First Blood!

Here they are, our first draws (well at least the ones that I could film...) I even got a cameo when Adane drew me! (Nice job Adane!) And thank you for helping with the camera work Linda!

0923 Pre-Draw Warm Up and Practice

Here is some footage of our "Pre-game warm-up." Lookin' good phlebotomists! Wait til you see the actual draws!

Simone's Big Five-Oh (Oh Yeah!, that is)

Here are some shots of: a couple of co-conspirators that have gained access to a notable faculty member's office to "tag" it for her birthday....  Followed by Simone trying to teach in a classroom dominated by a giant birthday cake! (Thanks Juanita and Breanna for supplying fantastic birthday cake and cupcakes!)


Ultimately, we all know who won out in the end! The cake(s) were delicious!
Thank you everyone for making it a very special (and especially sweet) day!

Some Lab and Classroom Stills 0920 - 0922

Here are a few shots around the classroom and lab of our earliest days in phlebotomy. If you double-click on an image, you will be taken to Picasa, where our on-line photo album is and you can download your favorites to your computer or smart phone.

Enjoy!

Welcome Fall 2011 Phlebotomy Students!!!

Welcome to Week Zero of Phlebotomy! where we gear up for our phlebotomy class!

On behalf of Simone and myself, I'd like to extend a warm welcome to all of our incoming students!

We will be using Phlebotomy Essentials (4th Edition) by Ruth E. McCall and Cathee M. Tankersley  (Available at the RTC Bookstore) You will also need to purchase these two texts: First Aid, CPR and AED Standard BLS for Healthcare Providers Student Manual While you're at the RTC Bookstore don't forget to pick up your scrubs. You'll need to get a cranberry top and bottom and a white lab coat. We usually get into the lab during the first week, so you'll want to get your scrubs soon!   We will be covering a lot of ground during this class and you might want to consider buying some flashcards (3x5 cards cut in half work nicely) because we’ll be memorizing a lot of new information every day!        Please click around the site and make yourselves at home.  Check out our     Phlebotomy Areas         Study aids         Videos and still images of blood draws! (look in the Blog Archive near the bottom of the page!)         Interactive phlebotomy-related games,              Job Hunting Areas         Links to jobs          Resume and cover letter writing tips            ESL Areas          Multilingual glossaries    Other Options         Allied Health Programs at RTC         Links to Scholarship funds!

This is our main textbook.

From here to Spokane... A custom draw for Auntie Chris!

I haven't been able to get into the lab much to film lately, but today I was able to get Andrea's daughter Caitlin (this spelling won, with 19 million (!) Google hits) to help out. Here is her cinematic debut starring yours truly and Caitlin's mommy!

Are you watching Auntie Chris?



Good job on the videography Caitlin!

A delicious princess cake from the RTC Bakery!

Today Theanne treated the class to this "princess cake" and it was delicious! It had white cake, raspberry filling and a pistachio-colored shell of marzipan and it was awesome! It was inscribed class of 2011 and it didn't last very long at all!

Thank you Theanne for sharing!

From 05102011

Scoot over Wall/Hall-of-Famers! Here comes Dima!

There was some excitement in the lab today when Dima became the first student since February to draw Simone's A/C successfully with an ETS! Congratulations Dima! You'll live on in Cyberspace in the program's Wall/Hall of Fame!
The hall of fame bids are restricted to students BEFORE going to clinicals... Who else wants to try? We've still got a few days to go!!!!

¡Dios mio! Chicken taquitos to die for, for Cinco de mayo!

It has been a tough week with the mid-term and clinical exercises in the lab, but today was different! Today the class enjoyed chicken taquitos that were out of this world, prepared by Ashley B., especially for cinco de mayo (our artificial holiday...) Ashley was up early today working on the taquitos and rice, both of which were excellent! Needless to say, they didn't last long. The good news is that Ashley has offered to reveal the secret to these delicious dishes. When she does, we'll post the recipe right here!

Meanwhile, here are a few shots to remember them by....

Local cricketer tests for broken heart, but is OK...

Today we did EKG/ECGs again, with Dilman, everyone's favorite local cricketer, who volunteered to reveal the innermost secrets of his telltale heart...

Thank you Dilman for volunteering! Now you will live on in cyberspace....

0503 Videos

0502 Videos

Here are some draws from our time in the lab today.

Enjoy!

0429 Terrell Clinic Grand Opening!

Today the students got their first taste of how it's going to be in a working clinic/hospital. Simone set everything up so that everyone could experience firsthand what it's like to work in a clinic. There's a certain amount of order and a certain amount of chaos! Just like a real clinic! Jennie made a great supervisor and inpatient phlebotomists learned that while they are waiting for requisitions from the ward clerk, they can help out the outpatient phlebotomists. I think that there was one patient that spoke no English and another had a brief fainting spell! You can expect more of these clinics soon!

0428 Lab Rotations and Bring Your Kids to Work Day!

In addition to the ESL class's morning visit, we had lab rotations and Simone had arranged for students to bring their kids to "work" after lunch. If you see some youngish-looking students in the lab today, they are probably the kids of our phlebotomy students!

0428 Class Visit from Helen Shampain's ESL Class

We love class visits! During the past week, we have entertained and educated a number of high school visitors and today we had a visit from one of RTC's own ESL classes. Phlebotomy students now in their fourth week were able to review the basic procedures of the blood draw with today's guests. I think that more than a little interest was generated in Phlebotomy Program! Good work Phlebotomists!

0428 Dilman Turns 22!!!!!

Dilman turned 22 today! Congratulations! The class planned a little surprise party for him, complete with streaming music and images! We aren't going to mention here on line that Dilman was 15 minutes late to class, but the general consensus seems to be that he is starting to SLOW DOWN a bit!) Hang in there Dilman!



Happy Birthday Dilman and many happy returns of the day! (Dilman was heard to respond in his usual fashion: "Yeah, right, whatever man!")

RTC Hosts Word Walk in Kent

Today RTC hosted an Adult Literacy Event in Kent, where three technical and community colleges teach Adult Basic Education and English as a Second Language to adults of all ages and backgrounds.
Participants had a chance to meet with the Mayor of Kent, Suzette Cooke. And toward the end of the evening was a video highlighting the work of the three colleges in the community and some refreshements!

0425 Lab In-Services with Simone

Today we followed Simone around the lab while we worked on procedures.

0422 More Lab Procedures with Simone!

0421 HIV/BBP with Beverly Sims

Today we had a special guest, Beverly Sims from Public Health, come in to discuss HIV and BBP (blood borne pathogens) with the class. This is always an interesting session because Beverly is a very engaging and entertaining presenter. Thank you Beverly!

0419 CPR -- The Grand Finale!

It has been so busy that there wasn't much time to capture live footage, but here is one clip of the class performing CPR en masse! It was a busy 2 1/2 days!

0414 Videos

These are videos of our phlebotomists drawing each other and the MA students who were visiting on their clinical day. Butterfly draws were the order of the day, but there was also time for A/C draws for the ambitious!

0414 Stills Work with the MA students and visitors from Mountain View

Today we had a very busy day in the lab. It was a clinical day for the MA students and the Phlebotomists were going over dorsal draws with them. After they got started drawing each other, we had four different Middle School groups drop by to learn a little more about phlebotomy. Everyone worked together really smoothly today. Thanks everyone for making the morning go so well!

Happy Birthday Jennie!

Jennie had a birthday today with a big bowlful of cookies! Happy Birthday Jennie!

0413 Video

I'm not sure where the time went today, but I only capture a handful of stills and one video! Here's Jasmine drawing J.C.

0413 Stills

Here are a few stills from the lab today. Enjoy!

0712 Videos

Well, things worked out so that I could get a good collection of videos for today! We even had two brave volunteers come forward to use the butterfly needle (Hannah in the A/C and Dima in the dorsal). You may not have time to view these today with the first major test coming up, but they will be here for you whenever you, your family or friends have time.
Enjoy!

0712 Some Recent Stills

Here are some stills from the lab from yesterday and today...

0411 Videos

I keep meaning to video more students, but in the end, I only managed to capture seven draws. I'll keep trying. We should have lots of chances Tuesday and Thursday with the Nursing Assistants coming it!

0407 Video

Lots of first-timers today! We had three RTC Phlebotomy Technician Program alums (one a National Certified Phlebotomy Technologist!) in to help the newcomers and to keep up on their own skills. I think that there were only one or two misses by the new students out of 29 draws! A very strong first-day showing!

(These may upload a bit slowly.... Please keep trying back!)

0407 Lab Stills

Today half of the class did the I-BEST exams while the other half reviewed a few days' worth of homework. At half-time, they switched. Later, they mocked A/C draws with the lab partners that they were actually going to perform their first A/C draw on.

Phlebotomists, get your game on! (Don't forget to check out the videos!)

0407 The Tube Chart Looms.... Can they do it?!?!

Tomorrow John will host the "Free Sharpie Challenge," in which the students try to master the 10 blood collection tubes and write them out by memory. The successful few (I hope we have 29 nine this term!) win a free Sharpie in the color of their choice (subject to availability, blah, blah, blah). I hope everyone that borrowed my pen in the lab today will win their own Sharpie tomorrow morning!

See you soon!

0406 Videos -- Simone Demonstrates the A/C Draw

Today was the first day in the lab and we were doing rotations. Simone did an in-service on the A/C draw using the ETS on a fake arm and everyone got to have a chance to try it later during our rotations in the lab.
Please view these to review the steps and share with your friends and families!

0406 Lab Stills

Today was our first day in the lab. We did rotations (including I-BEST testing) and most of the students had a chance to do their first draw today -- a capillary stick! Everyone also got a chance to mock A/C (antecubital fossa) draws on fake arms and fake blood too!

0406 The SURPRISE!!!!

Today was an even bigger day than I expected when the whole class surprised me and my wife on our 31st Anniversary! Thanks everybody for showin' the love! It was a big surprise.... and a DELICIOUS cake!

Here's proof! (Thanks for taking the pictures Owen!)



Thanks for the great memories everyone!

0405 Breanna Draws

Breanna came in today to keep up her drawing skills drawing several brave volunteers.

Here are the videos.

0405 -- A Visit from Tasia

Today we had a visit from Tasia, one of Simone's previous phlebotomy students. She shared about her experience as a professional phlebotomist, her transition from classroom to hospital setting and the various challenges she faced. She was an inspiration to our newest crop of students and to Simone and myself as well!

Thanks for sharing!

0208 Videos

Today we were in the lab -- briefly... We realized that we were running out of time for draws, so it was decided rather quickly to switch to blood draws. As a result, I only got a few videos... I'm pleased to announced that we had two (Cyndi and Breanna) new ¡Flebotomistas! join the ranks today. ¡Felicidades a todos nuestros flebotomistas nuevos!

0208 Stills -- Can you spell 24-hour Fecal Fact?

Today Simone shared a few things about the other duties of phlebotomists, including urine tests (the large orange containers featured in the picture are for 24-hour urine tests) as well as other types of specimens that phlebotomists will be expected to handle, including the 24-hour fecal fact (which is still better than a 72-hour one!), sputum, throat and nasal swabs (continuing on from yesterday). She said that as an incoming phlebotomist, they might be expected to handle specimens of that type, but that they shouldn't shy away from those duties and continuing their professional growth and development.
Also featured in the last photo is an ABG syringe. Phlebotomists don't perform ABGs, but Simone likes everyone to become familiar with equipment and procedures that they will encounter at their clinical sites.

0207 Videos

Here are some videos from today. I had a little more time in the lab with the phlebotomists, so I was able to record more. We also saw a couple more students become flebotomistas!

0204 Videos

Just a handful of videos today. The phlebotomists are getting faster and faster in the lab, which is a good thing, because there are just a few more hours until clinicals begin!

0204 ECG/EKG with Fredel

Today during the second half of class, Fredel gave us a chance to measure his cardiac output! Possibly our last chance before leaving for clinicals...

0204 Throat Swabs

Today a few members of the class learned about throat swabs, demonstrated in the first two stills by Taryn and Leonard. Simone pointed out that you need to trigger a "gag reflex" to obtain the best quality specimen (image 3), followed by the class reaction (image 4)! Enjoy! (?)

0203 Videos

Here are some shots of the lab from today, taken while Simone corrected the mid-terms!

Enjoy!

0202 Videos -- Special Guests in the Lab!

Today we had some volunteers from Shannon Winchester's Medical Assistant class come in for blood draws. Carolyn, a former phlebotomy student and now in the MA program was a good sport, remembering what it was like to draw new arms. Kelly is a former MA student now in the Phlebotomy Program, so it really seems like what goes around comes around! Thanks everyone for helping to make this work!

0201 Videos

Another day of in-and-out, in- and outpatient draws!

0131 Videos

We had another day of inpatient and outpatient draws today. You guys are getting so fast now that it is hard to capture you in action! These are the ones that I managed to get!

Enjoy!

0128 EKGs with Leonard

Today the class learned how to set up a 12-lead EKG (ECG) using Leonard as a volunteer. It was a very interesting experience! On the old machine, Leonard's vitals weren't looking too good, but as soon as we connected him to the new EKG reader, he looked much better! (See for yourself!) Thanks for "volunteering" Leonard!

0128 Videos

We started in the morning with our "faux clinique" and got a handful of draws in. Later, after our potluck, we went back into the lab for additional draws.

Here are the ones that I got.

0127 Videos

Here are a few draws from our "preclinical clinical" experience/experiment and more draws from our regular drawing sessions. Nearly everyone has tried all four of the blood-drawing methods (lancet, ETS, butterfly and syringe) so now all we need to do is perfect our skills. (Good thing, because we only have two weeks until the first group leaves for clinicals!)

0127 Stills (and one video) from the Grand Opening of Terrell Clinic

Today the class experienced the grand opening of "Terrell Clinic." We had patients with disabilities (physical AND mental) that needed to be drawn as well as a number of new and unfamiliar forms, tests, procedures, etc. Everyone agreed it was a great learning experience and the students were all ready for more "preclinical clinical" experience.
Remember, you can download still images if you see something that you like with a g-mail account. Double click the image and continue on to Picasa Web, where our blog's photo album resides.

Enjoy!

0126 Videos

Here are a few videos from today's lab activities.

Enjoy!

0121 Videos

Here are some clips from the lab, including our Olympics!

Enjoy!

0121 Stills

Here are some stills from the Butterfly practice in the lab.

0120 Videos

Here are some lab videos of students working on dorsal draws.

0120 Stills CPR and First Aid

Just a handful of stills today, from the CPR and First Aid Class

0119 Videos

Day two of CPR and First Aid, so the students came between 7:00 and 8:00 (AM!) to practice their blood draws. Several silver stars and I think a gold star too were awarded today! The students are stepping into their own as phlebotomists and, as Simone predicted, students are stepping up their draws and actively pursuing "difficult draws."
Tomorrow, CPR/1st Aid is just half a day, so we will be drawing blood after lunch... Maybe we'll see a few lipemic specimens!

Here are the draws from this morning....

0118 Videos

The class began CPR and First Aid this morning, so Simone opened up the laboratory at 7:00 AM (!) for blood draws. Thank you to those of you who made it in! Your future employers will appreciate your dedication and skill! If you missed today, try doubly hard to get in tomorrow, because when a three-day weekend slips into a four-day weekend, things happen to your draws that can take many, many days to repair...

There were a few false starts, but all in all, a good morning for drawing...

0114 Our First Olympics!

Today, at the very end of a very busy day, we held our first Phlebotomy Olympics, with awards ceremony (complete with musical accompaniment) at the end. I think that everyone was a little bit nervous (remember that learning to control those nerves will make you a better phlebotomist!), but we did see some excellent blood draws! See for yourself:

0114 Videos -- Butterfly and Dorsal Draws

There was a lot happening in the lab today, so I only caught a few dorsal draws... Here they are:

0114 Stills Blood Culture In-Class In-Service

Today Simone demonstrated the Blood Culture Procedure for the class and demonstrated how to transfer blood from a syringe to the blood culture bottles.

Here are some stills.

0113 (nearly) Flawless Butterflies...

With the addition of butterfly draws to their skill set, having all of the steps down for each device becomes very important. At the end of the day, after working on mocking their steps with winged infusion sets for the better part of an hour, students were challenged to perform them perfectly. Nearly everyone participated, and nearly every draw was perfect!

0113 Videos

We have been gradually branching out into blood draws with the butterfly needles (winged infusion sets) and today a number of students did their first draws with a butterfly! Other students worked on inpatient draws, which are a kind of obstacle course! Here are the videos.

Simone Selected as RTC Winter Quarter Employee of the Quarter!!!

Today, Simone was recognized as employee of the quarter for winter quarter at RTC!

Congratulations Simone!!! All that hard work seems to be paying off!

0110 Blood Draws

Another busy day in the lab... I wasn't able to get everyone's blood draw today, but here are the ones that I did manage to capture.

0110 Lab Stills

Here are some stills of the students studying during our lab rotations today...

0107 Blood Draws -- Video

It was a REALLY good first day of A/C blood draws using the ETS (butterfly in two cases). There was a good level of concentration in the lab, which resulted in a high degree of success. Now that we have gotten over the apprehension of doing our first real blood draws, we can focus on improving our skills! Good job phlebotomists!

I will be uploading our videos and stills throughout the day today (Saturday). If you don't see yours right away, please check back later...
Enjoy!

0107 Lab Stills

Hello Everyone!
Here are some stills from the lab on Friday. I am currently uploading the videos, but that may take the better part of the day (Saturday). Please check back if you don't see your video up here. (I think I managed to capture everyone's first draw...)

Also, while you're here, don't forget to check around the site and try some of our links. There are study aids, employment aids and even some interactive games to help you master phlebotomy!

0106 Lab Activities -- Stills: Final prep before our first A/C draws!

Today we had our final I-BEST pretest, (Yeah!) and, after the homework review, we spent nearly the whole day in the lab students were working on their AC (antecubital) blood draw prep today and we even had some fake arms (with even faker blood!) to work on!
Here are some images!

RATS in the phlebotomy classroom?!?!

Today we had a visit from Michele Lesmeister who is part of the Reading Apprenticeship Teachers and Supporters (RATS) group on campus at RTC. She led the class through some reading exercises that emphasize analysis of the text for deeper understanding and better retention! Thank you Michele!

0105 Day 2 in the lab... Capillary draws and bloodtyping

0104 First day in the lab -- Capillary Draws aka "fingersticks"

Here are some stills from our first day in the lab. We were doing capillary draws and rotating through our stations. Here are some stills.