RT - Signa Vitae ID - 10.22514/sv.2021.241 T1 - Point-of-care testing as the future of pre-hospital emergency medicine: an overview A1 - Lukasz SZARPAK A1 - Gabriella NUCERA A1 - Michal PRUC A1 - Olayinka Stephen ILESANMI A1 - Aanuoluwapo Adeyimika AFOLABI A1 - Francesco CHIRICO K1 - COVID-19; Emergency care; Emergency medicine; Point-of-care testing; Laboratory tests YR - 2022 SP - 153 AB -

Point-of-care testing (POCT) plays an increasingly important role in pre-emergency medicine by ensuring that patient’s continuum of care is commenced before arrival at health facilities. Given the benefits of POCT during the COVID-19 pandemic, this commentary described the advantages and disadvantages of POCT, and its current practices in pre-hospital emergency medicine. Point-of-care tests are easy to operate, cost-effective, and yield quick and accurate response, but are posed with challenges such as safety errors, poor adherence to quality control standards, and inspection errors. To optimize the benefits of POCT in pre-emergency medicine, it is required that regular trainings are conducted for POCT operators, and total compliance to POCT handling and management guidelines should be considered by each POCT operator.