So you landed a job as a commercial truck driver, or maybe you’re transporting kids to and from school, or hauling hazardous waste. Congratulations! Now you need a DOT physical. Read on to find out what that entails.
Airline pilots, truck drivers, college athletes, forklift operators, and new employees are just a few of the people groups routinely required to undergo a drug test. If you’ve been told you need one, there’s no reason to be nervous. It typically means that your employer or coach wants to make sure that you have no illegal drugs in your system that may put you or those around you in danger or give you a performance advantage.
At Calvary Urgent Care in Humble, Texas, our team of medical experts performs drug tests every day for people just like you throughout the greater Houston area. We understand that you may feel a little nervous about your drug test, especially if it’s your first time. To put your mind at ease, we put together this information about exactly what to expect during a drug test.
There are several ways to check your system for drugs. Drugs can be detected in your hair, saliva, blood, and urine. The most common type of drug screening is a urine test, because it’s easy to collect and test, and it gives quick results.
If you’ve been asked for a urine test, make sure you drink plenty of water at least a half an hour before your appointment. It’s also important that we collect a clean sample of urine so that the test results are pure. Here's the procedure:
Under some circumstances, we are required to be present during your urine collection. While this may feel embarrassing, rest assured that it’s a routine practice, and our staff members do their best to make you feel comfortable.
If there’s a reason to determine whether you’re actively under the influence of a specific drug, such as after an automobile accident or in a legal matter, a blood test can detect drugs that are metabolized quickly. If you’ve ever had a routine blood draw, then you know the drill. If not, here’s what to expect. While you sit comfortably in a chair, we:
The whole process takes about five minutes, and there’s no downtime or pain involved.
If your employer or a law enforcement agency needs to know about recent drug use (within the last few hours and up to two days), this method is ideal for that. But it’s not suitable for detecting long-term drug use. If you need a saliva drug test, you:
This is often called a swab test because of the collection method. It’s desirable because it’s simple and quick and isn’t susceptible to substitution or adulteration.
When someone needs to know if you’ve used illicit drugs over the past 90 days, they might request a hair drug test. That's because most drugs leave traces that can be detected in your hair strands for a couple of months.
This test is fast and painless because you just need to sit still for a moment while we snip a small lock of hair close to your scalp. We only need a small sample (about 100 individual strands), so it won’t be noticeable.
Regardless of which type of test you need, you should always make sure you bring your government-issued identification and any forms your employer has asked you to have signed or filled out by a doctor. At Calvary Urgent Care, we test for 10 different drugs, which covers you and your employer beyond the standard five-panel test.
That’s it. Getting a drug test is nothing to fear. The process is simple, and now that you know what to expect, you can rest easy. Call us at 832-680-2273 or book an appointment online, but keep in mind that we have temporarily changed our hours due to the COVID-19 restrictions. We are currently open 8 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday.
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