Community paramedic point of care testing: validity and usability of two commercially available devices.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Community Paramedics (CPs) require access to timely blood analysis in the field to guide treatment and transport decisions. Point of care testing (POCT), as opposed to laboratory analysis, may offer a solution, but limited research exists on CP POCT. The purpose of this study was to compare the validity of two devices (Abbott i-STAT® and Alere epoc®) by CPs in the community.

Methods

In a CP programme responding to 6000 annual patient care events, a split sample validation of POCT against traditional laboratory analysis for seven analytes (sodium, potassium, chloride, creatinine, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and glucose) was conducted on a consecutive sample of patients. The difference of proportion of discrepant results between POCT and laboratory was compared using a

SUBMITTER: Blanchard IE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6498549 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature