In a recent survey sent to 7,000 readers of the magazine, Advance for Administrators of the Laboratory, BD was named "Top of the Class" in the safety category. Respondents cited BD's excellent safety devices, great training, competitive pricing, fast delivery, good shipping quality and great communication. The specific products they mentioned were the BD Eclipse™ 21-gauge and 23-gauge needle, the BD™ Blood Transfer Device and BD SafetyLok™ Blood Collection Sets.

The survey was an e-mail campaign sent by Advance to its readership bank. The categories were based on topics and features that appear regularly in the magazine. More than 200 responses were received within one week.

"The most impressive thing about BD's selection was that the survey did not give company names to rank and choose from. Instead, respondents were asked an open-ended question about what company they considered 'Top of the Class' in the various categories. They were also asked to list three reasons for their choice," said Cathy Shea, vice president of sales and marketing for BD Vacutainer Systems, Preanalytical Solutions. "Although BD was not a prompted choice, approximately 70 respondents nominated BD. To be named 'Top of the Class,' especially in a nonprompted survey, reflects BD associates' hard work, extra effort and complete dedication to excellence."