How a Swedish ambulance team makes confident decisions in the field with QuikRead go

In prehospital care, every second counts. For the ambulance staff in Emmaboda, Sweden, Aidian’s QuikRead go Instrument has become an invaluable tool that helps them make safer decisions about patients on the spot.  

Louise Kulmala has worked in Emmaboda’s ambulance service since spring 2011. With more than a decade of experience in prehospital care, she understands how crucial it is to quickly assess a patient’s condition and make timely and correct decisions about the next steps. One of the key decisions that Kulmala and her team face in their daily work is whether a sick patient should be taken to hospital for emergency medical care or left at home to recover.

The more things that can help you when you have to decide whether someone can stay at home – that’s mainly what you want.

The solution: QuikRead go instruments for point-of-care testing

Louise Kulmala and her team looked for a solution that fulfilled three criteria: first and foremost, it should measure C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in blood, a marker that can be used to evaluate the severity of potential infection. Secondly, it was critical that the instrument is mobile and easy to use in the field. Lastly it should deliver fast, reliable results. This would provide Kulmala and her team with valuable additional information that, when considered alongside the symptoms and progression of the disease, the patient’s vital signs, medical history, and other relevant diagnostic data, would help determine the next steps.

"Usually, a virus means quite low CRP. And if we then have a patient who is generally ok but they’ve had a fever for five days, let’s say, and everything is green with all the parameters and the CRP is low, then I know it’s probably a virus. Then it’s generally much safer to let them stay at home. If we have green parameters and the CRP was 200, then it may be bacterial, and then they probably need to go to the hospital. Those kinds of things make it a bit easier to make a safe assessment." says Kulmala. 

After evaluating various options, Kulmala and her team chose Aidian’s QuikRead go system. In January 2022, the instrument was put into operation at the ambulance station in Emmaboda.

QuikRead go instrument quickly measures CRP and delivers results within 2 minutes. With its intuitive use, QuikRead go fulfilled the requirement of simplicity. "It has to be easy and you shouldn’t be able to make mistakes. You should be able to do it the same way 100 times. It should be the same every time." says Kulmala. The instrument’s compact size and light weight also made it suitable for use in the field. "I thought this device was very good because it’s small", she adds.

Evidence-backed benefits

Over two years, from January 2022 to January 2024, Kulmala conducted an evaluation project comparing QuikRead go results with the laboratory results from samples collected from the same patients in the emergency department. 

"We compared what we got with what they got in the emergency department, and they matched very well. It shows that the instrument is reliable", says Kulmala. 

The system has provided tangible benefits in the Emmaboda ambulance service’s daily work:

• Better decision-making on the go – when all parameters are green and CRP is low, the Emmaboda team can more confidently decide that the patient should stay at home rather than be treated in the hospital. This is both beneficial for patients and helps the ambulance service use its time and resources efficiently and avoid unnecessary driving.
• Supporting referral decisions – in patients with otherwise normal vital signs, an elevated CRP may indicate severe infection and need for referral to hospital. Previously, in such cases when CRP was not available, patients might have been left at home. Now if CRP is significantly elevated, patients are taken to hospital.
• Enhanced patient comfort – other tests used by the ambulance team, such as lactate testing, are often less suitable for a capillary sample. By contrast, QuikRead go uses a simple finger prick sample. Kulmala and her team found this to be significantly less burdensome for the patient.
• Differential diagnostics in the field – in addition to CRP, QuikRead go also measures haemoglobin (Hb). Assessing both CRP and Hb values provides the Emmaboda team valuable additional insight into the patient’s condition, supporting earlier recognition of infection, inflammation, anaemia or bleeding, and helping guide timely and appropriate care decisions. 

From training to field use: confidence at every step

A final positive experience for Kulmala was the thorough approval and training process. Before the system was put into operation, a carefully planned implementation process was carried out. Approvals were obtained from senior physicians and the hospital’s diagnostic centre. All staff in the emergency station were trained by an Aidian representative. "Peter came to us at work and went through how to do it."

It gives us peace of mind to be able to make more confident assessments.

Kulmala does not hesitate when asked if she would recommend QuikRead go to others in ambulance healthcare. "The way it has helped us, I think it is a good tool. We don't want to lose it – it gives us peace of mind to be able to make more confident assessments."

Today, QuikRead go is used by the ambulance stations in Emmaboda and Borgholm in the Kalmar region. Louise hopes that more stations will be able to take advantage of the opportunities the system offers in the future.

Explore point-of-care testing (POCT) with the Aidian QuikRead go instruments.