Please help. Am I at risk of air embolism?

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Hello to all ,

I recently was forced to return to the army camp as a reservist to draw some blood, I am not from the US. In the country I am at, we have conscription for 2 years and reservist duties till we are 45yo.

At the army camp, a young medic who looks about 18yo was assigned to draw my blood. Medics here are not registered nurses but merely conscripts who had undergone a few months of healthcare training in the army. The young fellow inserted the needle of a syringe into my right elbow area but could not find the vein after a few tries. He was pulling and pushing the handle of his syringe while doing so. I could see a little blood and a lot of air filling the syringe when he aspirated. He then pushed the handle of the syringe causing some air and blood to flow back into my arm. Because he couldnt seem to enter the vein properly, all this time he was poking around looking for it. From what i saw, the needle tip of the syringe was fully implanted under my skin even as he poked around.

The young fellow could not draw enough blood and finally I asked for a senior medic to replace him. The senior medic proceeded to draw my blood and he was quite successful. He aspirated and there was alot of blood in the syringe but there was alot of air.

I was very worried about air embolism from my previous encounter with the young fellow and asked the senior medic if I was at risk, given that the young fellow seems to be pumping so much air into my flesh. To my horror, the senior medic told me it was alright and to prove his point he actually did the following.

When the handle of the syringe was pulled back fully, he pumped the air back into the vein so he could aspirate more blood. I could clearly see alot of air was going back in! The senior medic repeated this (aspirating and pumping air back in) 4 or 5 times and looked really happy to see me frightened.

He told me that since the needle was under the skin all the time, there was no air entering my vein. However, I could see quite clearly that when he aspirated, there was blood and alot of air being sucked into the syringe. When the handle of the syringe was fully pulled out, he would pushed the handle of the syringe back in so that he can pull the handle out once more to draw more blood. During this process, I saw alot of air being pushed into my vein.

Am I at risk of air embolism? I ask because the amount of air which he pumped in looks to be more than 20ml (he pumped in a few times). Also, is it true that as long as the syringe is under your skin, no air is drawn into the syringe when you aspirate? I have never handled a syringe before but it looks like there was quite alot of air being drawn into the syrgine along with the blood!

Thank you for taking time out to help me with this issue! It has been troubling me immensely. I went to sleep last night dreaming that the bubbles have gone to my brain and a few years down the road I might be having a stroke.

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Specializes in Family Medicine, Outpatient Pediatrics, IBCLC.

Hey there,

Are you in the medical field? When did this happen? I'm a little bit confused....if the needle is in a vein, then just blood should enter the syringe when you pull it back. If air was entering...then he wasn't in a vein...and therefor you wouldn't have to worry about an air embolism at all. Unless he started off with a syringe full of air...which is weird...and why would he be pushing anything while drawing blood? Not to mention, with all this talk of air and blood, wouldn't the blood hemolize (sp?)? I can't picture in my head what you're talking about....but I wouldn't worry too much since it's extremely unlikely to occur even if some air was injected.

Yet another reason why I love vacutainers haha

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

I am sorry that this happened to you and i realize that you are scared by this, but unfortunately, we can't give out medical advice on this forum. You should follow up with someone on base with more training than a medic.

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Specializes in psych. rehab nursing, float pool.

what you were witnessing was the vacuum preceding the flow of blood.

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Hello Littlewings,

I am a tad confused myself too. I am not in the medical field myself, I work as a manager.

Yes the needle was in my flesh. Essentially, the medic was pulling the handle of the syringe to draw blood. As we all know, once the handle is fully pulled out, you got the push it back in if you want to pull it again to draw more blood. So that was what he did. He repeated that 4-5 times and I saw alot of air injected in which got me very freaked out. I am not sure why there is air being drawn into the syringe when the syringe looks to be in my flesh the whole time.

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Specializes in LTC.

Hello ?

We aren't allowed to give medical advice on this forum.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

as tempting as it may be to give advice, it violates our terms of service.

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Specializes in psych. rehab nursing, float pool.

https://allnurses.com/infusion-nursing-intravenous/air-embolism-iv-96687.html

while we can not give advice, read the link. It tells how much air it would take , syringes do not have that much to begin with. Call your doctor to help alleviate your worries, as you are worrying overtime about something which is very unlikely.

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Specializes in CT ICU, OR, Orthopedic.

So, this is not medical advice! If you are truly worried, you should see a Dr. An air embolism occurs when air enters the vascular system. If the needle was not in the vein, air can be aspirated...Sorry that this happened to you. The senior medic was not being very professional by trying go frighten you. He was being irresponsible. Again, if you are worried, you should see a Dr.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

As stated above, we cannot give medical advice and if you are truly concerned, please seek the medical opinion of your health care provider.

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