vacs plastique

Catharine Cellier-Smart Apr 7, 2011:

@silvester Yes I think Michael's hit the nail on the head. I guess we weren't thinking of slang lab expressions !

silvester55 Apr 7, 2011:

@ Catherine also thought of a typo , could it be : bac ? but then Michael seems to have an explanation

Michael Barnett Apr 7, 2011:

The smell of... victory. Although I haven't used a Vacutainer in over twenty years, the mention of it brings to mind a curious sensory memory. As the blood is sucked into the tube by the gentle negative pressure in the glass vessel, turbulence is created, producing a mild vibration in the tube accompanied by the warmth from the gushing blood, which is transmitted through the glass to operator's hand. It is really a very satisfying feeling, because when it doesn't happen, it means that you have missed the vein and have to try again on the squirming patient. You could say that it is the feeling of success!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OnOvrTugiA

Michael Barnett Apr 7, 2011:

Vacutainer "tulipe" The device that guides the glass tube onto the needle is plastic and is called the Vacutainer. It is referred to as the "tulipe" in the Wiki article.

I used to draw blood with them all the time. Often you need multiple test tubes of blood, with different chemicals in the tube to prevent the blood from clotting, etc. Rather than stick the patient five times for five different types of tests requiring different additives, you stick him once with the needle connected to the Vacutainer, and insert the various test tubes into the device sequentially, sucking the blood into the mild vacuum in each tube, without removing the needle from the patient.

Michael Barnett Apr 7, 2011:

Vacutainer tubes This could be slang for glass Vacutainer(R) tubes.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacutainer

http://www.ankh.be/produit-1420-55-49-BD362725-vacutainer_bd...

Catharine Cellier-Smart Apr 7, 2011:

Typo for "sac" IMO I really think this can only be a typo for "sac". I can't think of any corresponding French word, and can't find any coherent ref. on the net either.
Other possibility might have been a typo for "vat" but that seems a bit big for a laboratory ?