Methods of manufacturing a catheter introducer or needle assembly and needleshield are disclosed. A needle shield has a blocking object (preferably aball) which moves from an non- shielding position to a shielding position. Thecatheter introducer is made by placing the blocking object into the shield andinserting the proximal end of the needle into the shield while the blockingobject is in the shielding position. The catheter introducer is made usingextruded polymeric tubes which may have coextruded reinforcing.
