A method of making a needle guard includes providing a mold having a portion defining a volume, the volume being a hollow cylinder with non-uniform walls with a pair of slots therein, the slots being open at one end and closed at the other end, the pair of slots having a major portion of constant width. The walls are thicker at the other end than at the one end. The method includes filling the volume with polymer and releasing a molded part from said mold and cooling a molded part resulting from the filling and releasing such that temperature that the widths of the pair of slots is non-uniform after cooling. The needle guard has upper and lower jaws defining a channel and coming together at a hinge. A winged needle can be inserted between the jaws, with the wings of the winged needle passing through slots between the jaws.

Systems and methods are disclosed that include providing a blood collection tube with a unitarily molded barrel having a cylindrical body portion that defines a barrel cavity, a slot extending longitudinally along the cylindrical body portion, and opposing rails that extend longitudinally along edges of the cylindrical body portion formed by the slot. A dual-ended needle is retained within the barrel. A needle safety device having a pair of channels that receive the rails of the barrel is slidably engaged with the barrel between a first retracted position that exposes a venipuncture end of the needle for selective use of the blood collection tube holder and a second extended position that positions a needle tip shield of the needle safety device at least partially around the venipuncture end of the needle to protect a user from accidental needle sticks after use of the blood collection tube holder.

The present disclosure is a blood collection assembly that has a needle assembly fixedly coupled to a finger-activated actuator and tubing and the needle assembly has a needle. Further, the blood collection assembly has a hub that houses the needle assembly and the hub has a channel in a top surface of the hub. Additionally, the channel slidably engages the finger-activated actuator such that when the finger-activated actuator is moved from a distal end of the hub to a proximal end of the hub the needle retracts within the hub.