A MLT collects an EDTA (purple-top) tube from an inpatient for an ABO grouping and antibody screen. The tube was never labeled at bedside. The MLT prints the barcode label and applies it at the bench. A colleague notes the infraction. What should the colleague do?

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Before testing, a specimen must be clearly identified with the patient at the time of collection. Labeling a blood tube after it’s drawn, even if you attach a barcode later, disrupts the chain of custody and makes it impossible to be certain which patient the specimen belongs to. For ABO grouping and antibody screening, correct patient identification is essential to prevent mislabeling errors that could lead to transfusion mistakes. Therefore, the proper action is to reject the unlabeled specimen and obtain a new blood sample collected and labeled at the patient’s bedside with correct identifiers.

Why the other options aren’t appropriate: accepting the sample with labeling is unsafe because the initial labeling was not done at collection; labeling at bench does not fix the identification issue. Simply labeling and proceeding while noting the infraction still allows a risk of misidentification and violates standard procedures. Asking the patient to return later delays critical testing and does not address the immediate safety concern.