Laboratory Operations and Safety Flashcards
6 cards from real Medical Laboratory Technician Exam practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Laboratory Operations and Safety flashcards as text
Which centrifuge speed range is typically used to separate plasma or serum from cellular elements in routine blood specimens?
Answer: 1,000–2,000 × g
Routine separation of plasma or serum from blood cells requires 1,000–2,000 × g for approximately 10 minutes in a standard laboratory centrifuge.
A laboratory technician spills a concentrated acid on the bench. What is the correct immediate first action?
Answer: Flush the area with large amounts of water
The immediate response to an acid spill is to flush the area (and any affected skin) with copious water to dilute and remove the corrosive material.
Which of the following is the correct order of draw when collecting multiple tubes via venipuncture, according to CLSI guidelines?
Answer: Blood culture → Citrate (blue) → SST (gold) → Heparin (green) → EDTA (lavender)
CLSI order of draw is blood culture bottles first, then citrate (blue), SST (gold), heparin (green), EDTA (lavender) to prevent additive cross-contamination.
What is the purpose of a reagent blank in spectrophotometry?
Answer: To set absorbance to zero using all reagents minus the analyte
A reagent blank contains all assay reagents except the analyte and is used to zero the spectrophotometer, correcting for background color or turbidity in the reagents.
When performing a urinalysis, a specimen that has been stored at room temperature for more than 2 hours is considered unsuitable primarily because:
Answer: Bacteria multiply and may cause false-positive nitrite results
Bacterial proliferation at room temperature converts nitrates to nitrites and alters pH, glucose, and cellular elements, making the specimen unreliable.
Which laboratory accreditation organization is deemed by CMS as an alternative to direct CMS inspection under CLIA?
Answer: CAP (College of American Pathologists)
The College of American Pathologists (CAP) has deemed status from CMS, meaning CAP-accredited laboratories meet CLIA requirements without separate CMS inspection.