subject: What Does Stat Service Mean In The Courier Industry? [print this page] When something is shipped on a STAT service by a Chicago courier service, it means that is going to be shipped as fast as it is physically possible to do so. In a regular business courier environment, this might not be called STAT service. Instead it would probably be called something like emergency courier service, or rush delivery, or point to point service. Instead, STAT is a term that is used exclusively within the medical courier industry, meaning that a STAT delivery is essentially a medical courier only service.
There are many types of medical materials which are shipped by medical couriers, all of which might be demanded on a STAT basis depending on the situations at the time the delivery is requested. Things like pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, blood, and tissues samples for testing all qualify as medical material. Any of these things may be commonly demanded on a STAT basis rather than at a more leisurely pace.
When something is being shipped STAT it means that lives can literally hang in the balance. For instance, STAT courier service is sometimes used to respond to medical emergencies where there are shortages of certain supplies that were unpredictable, such as during a time of natural disaster. STAT service may also be called emergency medical courier service, the two terms both mean the same thing.
STAT is a term that is used throughout the medical industry not just when applying to courier services. This will often be a term used in a hospital as well. In either case it means the same thing, essentially that the requested service be performed immediately. In fact, the term STAT is derived from a Latin word, Statim, which basically means, immediately.
Medical courier companies that offer STAT service will have vehicles and employees whose only job is to be on call for that particular service. If those companies were to instead have drivers out on other deliveries when such an order came in it could greatly increase the amount of time that it might take to make a successful delivery. This is an unacceptable situation in scenarios where STAT deliveries are required. People's lives and well being often depend on the speed of a STAT delivery, so there are always vehicles and drivers that are ready to be dispatched at a moment's notice by the companies that provide these types of services to the health care community.
