The Bullshit of KRONOS
The bullshit of KRONOS is extensive and all-encompassing. They micro-manage every aspect of the job to the North degree not allowing for any deviation, no matter the circumstance. When taking blood, there are different tubes for different tests. Each tube has a particular additive inside, and which tube is used depends on the tests required. The majority of tests are done on serum. Serum tests are done using a gel tube which has a yellow top and a gel serum on the bottom of the tube. The gel is silicon and it basically looks like clear glue. When you centrifuge this gel, or spin it really fast like a merry go round on acid, it separates the red cells from the serum. Imagine a clear tube like a hose, around 10cm long. On top you would have an apple juice like liquid, then you would have about half a centimetre of clear gel serum, then bright red blood cells. That’s what a gel tube looks like after centrifuging. Now the main feature of these tubes is whether they have a clotting agent or a non-clotting agent. Some testing requires your blood to clot. Blood left to its own devices, naturally clots. Medications like warfarin impair clotting, so if a person on warfarin is stabbed, they are going to bleed like a stuck pig, while a person not on anti-coagulants will bleed like a pig with a paper-cut. Citrate tubes have a chemical that halts clotting, this allows the lab to test the bodies clotting ability. It is used to test anti-coagulant levels and to look for clotting disorders such as Von Willebrand’s. Other additives, such as EDTA, which prevent clotting, are added to other tubes to allow for separate testing. Now this is where the story gets interesting, this is where the micro-management gets ridiculous.