POCT is a True Asset in the Emergency Department

Background To determine patient priority and degree of urgency with an objective high-quality evaluation, general Point of Care testing (POCT) was established as a novel facility in the Emergency department at Holbæk Hospital. The hardware consists of AQT-90 Flex (CRP, D-dimer), ABL-800 (Na, K, Hgb, BG etc.) and HemoCue (Leukocytes), thus rendering useful parameters within initial assessment. A clinical biochemist was affiliated and analysis the blood samples taken between 10:00–22:00 hours, i.e. the period where 80% of the total patient flow occurs. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether POCT provides faster blood test results than ordinary clinical laboratory equipment (CLE).