The origins of the phlebotomist profession are cloaked in a history of misinformation, incorrect assumptions, skullduggery, and outright lies. In fact the activities of the oldest practitioners of this ancient practice were in wide use even before the time of Hippocrates, the father of medical scientists, in the fifth century BC.

Medieval clinicians clung to unfounded and unproven beliefs that in order to heal a body, it was important to purge it from evil spirits that were causing the illness or infirmity. Part of the process of purging was to exorcise an amount of blood that carried the evil spirits throughout the body. The phlebotomist (blood-letter) was the expert at knowing where, and how much blood to draw.

Phlebotomist and Civilization

It is important to understand that these phlebotomist jobs were performed all over the world, and in some of the most modern civilizations of the times. The Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, and Chinese were the hubs of many different types of human exchanges. Exchanges such as technology, fashion, food, weaponry, and yes, even medicine, were traded from civilization to civilization in order to promote a culture, and progress.

Ignorant populations of agrarian societies held the original phlebotomist’s in the highest regard. Many of these traveling clinicians, bent on a sizable phlebotomist salary went from town to town, to ply their trade on the unsuspecting. The most popular were those who killed the fewest patients. Although it was altogether too easy to blame an expired patient, on the evil that he carried within his body, than the questionable treatment supplied.

The Tools of the Trade for an Ancient Phlebotomist

At a certain point the ancient phlebotomists even developed an anatomical map of the human body, in order to pinpoint the specific locations where cuts were to be made, to bleed a person for certain specific maladies. This no doubt had the effect of bolstering their aura of expertise to fearful family members hoping for cures for the afflicted.

As part of the bloodletting process, a patient was stabbed with a sharp instrument and the blood was collected in shallow bowls until a suitable amount was collected. The reason that the blood letter would know, that a suitable amount was collected was because the patient, would usually pass out from blood loss.

There is a story about a French Soldier in the early 1800’s who suffered a stab wound to the chest during hand-to-hand combat. The wound was serious enough to cause the soldier to black out from loss of blood. On his arrival at the local hospital, the physicians on duty saw the serious nature of his wound and immediately bled 20 ounces from his body so the wound would not become inflamed.

During that night after his arrival, he was bled an additional 24 ounces, and the next morning the chief surgeon ordered him bled another 10 ounces. The soldier endured five more bleedings during a 14-hour period later that day, until approximately one half of his total blood supply had been taken from his body, not including the original blood loss that had contributed to him passing out.

Bleedings would continue over the following few days, until the wound did in fact become inflamed. The doctors then applied leeches to the wound, and continued bleedings and new leeches over three days. Somehow the patient survived, and was released from the hospital with the doctor declaring “ by the large amount of blood lost (170 ounces) and the applications of leeches (72 leeches), the life of the patient was saved”.

The Phlebotomist and the Famous

There are many famous historical figures that also had less than exemplary experiences with the quacks proclaiming a phlebotomy certification. Napoleon after his venesection said of practitioners “ Medicine is the science of Murderers”

• In 1492 the Pope (Innocent VIII) required a blood transfusion, and three youngsters were chosen to donate their blood. Unfortunately, all three youths died in the process, as well as the Pope.

• In 1685 King Charles II of Great Britain was felled by a stroke. His physicians quickly bled 24 ounces from him, and though he was able to communicate a little better, he died shortly after. His physicians quickly left the country.

• In 1791 Mozart who was probably experiencing renal failure, finally succumbed after his doctors removed severe amounts of blood and forced him to undergo purgation.

• In 1799 the first American president, George Washington became ill from a cold and a minor throat infection after riding through snowy weather. His physician a prominent medical professional ordered a bleeding of approximately 80 ounces. The president fell into shock and died the following day.

Phlebotomist Definition In Modern Day

Today a phlebotomist is someone who works face to face with patients, and collects and processes, blood and other body fluid specimens, for laboratory testing and diagnostic analysis.

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