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Manual handling of hemolyzed samples is not standardized and is vulnerable to errors. This study aimed to evaluate laboratory errors due to manual handling of hemolyzed samples and to assess the risk they might have for patient safety.

Data were retrospectively obtained from a laboratory information system for 25 emergency tests from hemolyzed samples. Hemolysis (concentration of free hemoglobin >0.5 g/L) was visually assessed by comparison with a color chart. The reference person reestimated the routinely assessed degree of hemolysis to all samples (n=3185) received in the laboratory in a 1-week period. For each test, the correct and incorrect way of handling results was determined. Risk assessment was performed according to ISO 14971 standard with five categories of risk (S1–S5) and error occurrence (O1–O5).

In the studied period, the emergency laboratory received 495 …