Safety blood collection assembly with indicator

A needle assembly, comprising:

• a housing comprising a flash chamber, and having a distal end and a proximal end engageable with a specimen collection container;
• a cannula having a patient end, a non-patient end, and a sidewall extending therebetween defining a cannula interior, the patient end of the cannula projecting at least partially from the distal end of the housing, the cannula interior in fluid communication with the flash chamber;
• a shield restrainably engaged with a portion of the housing and axially transitionable over the patient end of the cannula from a retracted position in which the patient end is exposed, to an extended position in which the patient end is shielded by at least a portion of the shield, wherein the shield comprises an opening or a cutaway portion, wherein at least a portion of the flash chamber is visible through the shield when the shield is in the retracted position, and wherein the flash chamber comprises a viewable cavity into which a specimen flows to provide an early visual indication of venous entry prior to collection of a specimen;
• and
• a porous vent disposed within the flash chamber, the porous vent separating the flash chamber into a first chamber and a second chamber.

A needle assembly, comprising:

• a housing comprising a flash chamber, and having a distal end and a proximal end engageable with a specimen collection container;
• a cannula having a patient end, a non-patient end, and a sidewall extending therebetween defining a cannula interior, the patient end of the cannula projecting at least partially from the distal end of the housing, the cannula interior in fluid communication with the flash chamber;
• and
• a shield restrainably engaged with a portion of the housing and axially transitionable over the patient end of the cannula from a retracted position in which the patient end is exposed, to an extended position in which the patient end is shielded by at least a portion of the shield, wherein at least a portion of the flash chamber is visible through the shield when the shield is in the retracted position, wherein the housing comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion distal to the second portion, and wherein the shield is entirely disposed within an interior of the first portion in the retracted position, and a specimen collection container receiving port is defined within the second portion.