Making blood smears and staining (practical)
Karen V. Jackson · 2013
Blood smears are an essential component of a Complete Blood Count (CBC) as they can be used to confirm and complement analyzer data and evaluate for morphologic abnormalities that cannot be detected by analysers alone. CBCs are used clinically to investigate sick patients, chemotherapy patients, and often also as a part of an annual screening process. Haematology abnormalities most often evaluated include anaemia, inflammatory disease, leukaemias, and bleeding disorders. This practical session is to follow the lecture on how to make and stain blood smears. In this practical session registrants will be encouraged to perform blood smears via both the push and coverslip methods while being guided by both trained scientists and a veterinary clinical pathologist. We will then stain some of the blood smears to confirm they are of excellent quality and that with practice everyone can become proficient at making excellent quality blood smears.