- Seek arrangements permitting you to obtain extra i-STAT cartridges from MTFs if your supply chain is limited, however, they are in no way obligated to do so. If the deployed location does not have a refrigerator, it may also be possible to drop off your main store of cartridges at the MTF for temperature-controlled storage and the running of controls. Obtaining cartridges from an MTF laboratory will eliminate the need to monitor storage temperature. Some laboratories, however, do not use i-STAT, so they may only be able to store your controls and cartridges; you will still be responsible for ensuring that the liquid controls are completed.
- Consider comparing the i-STAT results with MTF derived values:
- When circumstances permit, teams are advised to perform one i-STAT test while MTF personnel simultaneously measure the same parameters on a patient.
- If the results are similar, it adds some certainty to the accuracy of the i-STAT and cartridge lot currently in use.
- Discordant results suggest a problem with the analyzer or cartridges and should prompt further investigation; the team should consider turning the device in for maintenance.
- There is no scientific basis for determining the direction and magnitude of difference between the i-STAT and MTF lab and then using that value as a correction factor to adjust results. There is no reason to believe that the difference in values will be in the same direction or of the same magnitude for subsequent measurements.