What Drugs Can You Detect With a Rapid Test?

Whether you’re an employer who needs to drug test prospective or current employees, a parent who wants to test their teenager, a parole officer who needs to test their parolees or a physician at a rehab facility who needs to test their patients, it’s important to know what drugs can be detected with a drug rapid test. The rapid urine drug screen conducted by Trinity Medical Laboratories in Marlton, NJ can detect a variety of drugs.

What Can You Detect With a Drug Rapid Test or Urine Drug Test?

Rapid drug screens can detect numerous toxicology drugs through a person’s urine, including the following 13 drugs.

• Alcohol
• Amphetamines
• Barbiturates
• Benzodiazepines
• Cocaine
• Hydrocodone
• Marijuana
• Methadone
• Methamphetamine
• Opiates
• Oxycodone
• PCP
• Propoxyphene

We can deliver the results of a rapid drug screen within 24 hours of receiving a sample, which is why it is considered rapid. Other types of drug screens can take up to four days to complete, which can delay important decisions that hinge on them. Additionally, we integrate with most electronic medical record (EMR) systems and update the lab report immediately upon completion to make sure you have the results you need almost as fast as we get them.

Accuracy of Results

Our facility uses a two-phase approach toward drug screens. First, we screen the urine sample for drugs using enzyme immunoassays or EIAs, which are able to quickly identify the presence of a drug in the sample. EIAs work by introducing an enzyme to the sample to compete with any potential drug to bind to an antibody. The more of a drug that’s in the sample, the more unbound enzymes there will be, causing the sample to change colors.

A color change during the EIA phase of our testing process provides a presumptive positive result. This means that we can’t tell how much of a drug is in the sample, but we can say with confidence that the sample has tested positive for the presence of one or more of the above-mentioned drugs. At this point, we move onto the second phase or liquid Chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS) to confirm the presence of the drug, along with an amount.

Clients can also choose to skip the EIAs phase if they know a drug will be present but want to verify the amount is within the therapeutic range for that drug.By using these two phases and methods of drug detection, we are able to provide accurate and timely results that you can feel confident using to make critical decisions. Our process is almost 50% faster than our competition because we’ve carefully refined our testing and reporting methods.

Reasons for Rapid Drug Screens

Employers

It’s become commonplace in recent years for employers to have prospective and current employees tested for drugs before and during their employment. Research has shown that people who take drugs have higher rates of absenteeism, present a greater risk of workplace accidents, and are less productive. Employers want to do what they can to eliminate the candidates who are likely to be a problem before they’re ever hired, and drug screening is one tool available to them for this purpose.

Once an employee is hired, companies often want to continue testing them at random intervals to make sure they’re not a risk to their own safety and that of other employees, clients, and others. This is particularly critical if employees are in charge of running heavy equipment or are tasked with the responsibility of keeping others safe as part of their job (air traffic controllers, police officers, etc.). Regular testing for drugs protects everyone involved with an employee.

Law Enforcement and Parole Officers

When a person is charged with a crime, they are frequently required to submit to a drug screen to determine if drugs or alcohol played a role in the crime. This process can be time-critical because some drugs can leave the system fairly quickly. Plus, law enforcement officers need to know what they’re charging the person with as soon as possible. Our urine test allows officers to know whether drugs and alcohol were involved within 24 hours.

People who are granted parole are often done so on the condition that they remain drug and alcohol-free, which means it becomes the job of their parole officer to randomly and regularly test them for drugs. The results of these tests are time-sensitive since parole officers need to know quickly whether or not they should revoke parole. Additionally, providing a urine sample is a simple task for parolees who have to check in frequently with their officers.

Rehabilitation Facilities

Patients who’ve entered a drug rehabilitation facility are usually required to remain sober during their treatment. As such, rehab centers use our testing facilities to ensure their patients are following treatment protocols. If they’re found to be using drugs through our drug rapid test, they may be asked to leave the program or they could be transferred to a more intensive program. A drug screen may be used to determine what drugs are in a patient’s system during intake as well.

Sometimes, drug addiction is treated by prescribing a therapeutic amount of another controlled substance. For instance, methadone is often prescribed to treat heroin addiction, but rehab facilities must take care to monitor the amount of methadone in their patients’ systems. This can easily be accomplished through the LCMS phase of our testing process, which can determine the amount of drug in a sample rather than just providing the positive result that is provided by the EIA phase.

Parents

While there are plenty of at-home drug tests available, their accuracy can be questionable. It’s far better to have a laboratory conduct a drug screen for a teenager who is suspected by their parents of taking drugs because the results will be clear-cut. Additionally, we recommend parents go through a physician to get their child tested because then their use can be addressed medically as well as behaviorally. Keeping a child’s doctor in the loop is beneficial for everyone.

Moreover, we can get the results of a child’s test to their doctor within 24 hours, so they can inform the parents to begin the decision-making process. Perhaps treatment will be necessary, but until the results of a test are available, that determination can’t be made. Having all the facts from a drug rapid test will help parents and doctors make the best decisions possible for a teenager who is found to be using drugs.

Sports Teams and Leagues

Unfortunately, some athletes at all levels use steroids to enhance their performance, but this isn’t fair to other competitors who are relying on their own physical abilities to compete. Sports teams and leagues, including those that are affiliated with schools, can benefit from random regular drug testing of their athletes to ensure the competition remains fair. Since the results can be delivered so quickly, decisions about an athlete’s playing status can also be made quickly.

Of course, the drug rapid test can detect other types of drugs besides anabolic steroids, which can be beneficial for coaches and parents to discover so that the athlete can get the appropriate treatment. We recommend that athletes are tested at medical facilities under the direction of a physician to ensure medical concerns with drug use are addressed if a sample comes back positive. We are also able to return results to a physician more quickly as well.

Synthetic Urine Test

Any drug test performed is only as good as the sample that’s tested, and with the development of synthetic urine, the chances of a fake sample jeopardize important decisions that are relying on those results. We offer synthetic urine testing that will catch these fake samples and allow you to take the appropriate action toward the perpetrators of the cheating scheme. Our test detects specific markers that are only found in human urine to distinguish real samples from fake ones.

It might be surprising to know that there is an entire industry dedicated to producing synthetic urine that closely mimics the real substance. However, well-disguised synthetic urine can be purchased online or from local sources that are found through word of mouth. Chemists who create this product don’t always know how it’s being used, but whenever there is a test involved, you can be sure that someone will try to cheat. Our synthetic urine test makes sure they get caught.

Characteristics of a Reputable Laboratory

Where you have your drug screens performed is critical to obtaining reliable results upon which you can make important decisions. Choosing a reputable laboratory can mean the difference between a false positive or negative and real results that can be trusted. Don’t make the mistake of handing your samples over to just anyone. Look for the following characteristics of a reputable laboratory to feel confident in the results.

• Two-phase testing process for confirmation of positive results
• Fully licensed and insured
• Customized testing options
• Transparency into testing procedures
• Precise testing procedures
• Qualified lab technicians
• 24-hour support
• Latest technology

If time is also important for your needs, you should look for a laboratory that can deliver accurate test results within 24 hours. There aren’t many labs that can make that commitment to its clients, but we can. Not only will we provide a free courier service to pick up your samples, but we also integrate with your EMR to provide access to test results as soon as they’re available. No other lab in New Jersey can make this guarantee.

One of the reasons we’re able to deliver such quick results is that our testing is accurate. Inconclusive results only hold up the process, but because of our two-phase testing structure, you will know that the results you get are not only conclusive but also reliable. We work with dozens of medical facilities, employers, and private companies in the state, and we treat each of them as if they’re our only client by providing results that support decisive action.

More Than Drug Screens

In addition to drug screens, our lab offers blood testing to assess a patient’s health, diagnose a condition, and determine potential internal organ function. We can test blood for numerous reasons, but our most common tests are a complete blood count (CBC) to determine the quantity of red and white cells in your blood, and a basic metabolic panel, which assesses the condition of the heart, liver, and kidneys through the examination of electrolytes, calcium, and glucose in the blood.

Get Results Now

Whether you need a drug screen or blood test to help you make a treatment, employment, or legal decision, our lab can provide the services you require. Contact Trinity Medical Laboratories today to learn more about our efficient and accurate testing process.