Speaker:
Anna Füzéry. North Sector POCT Medical Lead. Alberta Precision Laboratories.
Dr. Anna Füzéry obtained her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, USA. She subsequently completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship program in clinical biochemistry at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes in Baltimore, USA. Upon completion of her training in 2013, she accepted a position as a clinical biochemist with Alberta Health Services in Edmonton, Canada.
Her initial responsibilities included overseeing clinical biochemistry testing in 11 rapid response laboratories. In 2017 she transitioned into point-of-care testing (POCT) and became the medical lead for Edmonton followed by Northern Alberta. Dr. Füzéry is an associate clinical professor of laboratory medicine at the University of Alberta, and also co-directs the university’s Postdoctoral Clinical Biochemistry Fellowship program. Dr. Füzéry’s current research interests lie in enabling high quality, clinically relevant POCT in prehospital care and during critical care transport
Overview:
Point-of-care testing (POCT) is used Emergency Medical Services (EMS) settings to assist health care providers in making decisions on patient care while on scene and during transport. The accuracy and reliability of POCT is strongly dependent on the presence of robust quality assurance (QA) practices. National and international guidelines on POCT QA are becoming increasingly available, but their adoption in EMS settings is neither trivial nor straightforward. This presentation will provide attendees with a n overview of current barriers to adoption of these guidelines and will describe a recently proposed standard for POCT in EMS settings. The standard incorporates features that are already considered best practice for all POCT, as well as features that aim to mitigate the special challenges encountered in EMS settings. The presentation will also highlight the roles and responsibilities of various groups in the adoption of the proposed standard.
Objectives:
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Provide a brief overview of the different programs and services provided by EMS in Canada and elsewhere.
- Provide examples of the clinical utility of POCT in EMS settings.
- Discuss the challenges and failure modes associated with POCT in EMS settings.
- Describe a recently proposed standard for POCT in EMS settings.
- Discuss the roles and responsibilities of laboratories, EMS organizations, POCT device manufacturers, accreditation bodies, regulatory agencies and professional organizations in the adoption of the recently proposed standard.