Info on Taking eMed COVID Tests

[cruisinfly]

I've seen a lot of questions/discussions on COVID testing. My family took our eMed COVID tests and I thought I'd share my experience/procedures for anybody else planning to do this. Here's my experience in chronological order:

 

1. I ordered the test kits from eMed dot com around 1 month prior to our cruise. They came in a pack of 6. I have a family of 5 so I ordered 1 pack.

2. I submitted a claim for reimbursement to my health insurance company. They are supposed to cover the cost of these tests.

3. I created an eMed account.

4. I downloaded the NAVICA app and created an NAVICA account.

5. I was able to add all of my family members, wife and children, to my account. (My family members did not need their own login or account.)

6. I received the eMed test kits within a couple of days. Leave the individual test kits sealed/closed until the proctor tells you to open them. Don't order too early, the expiration date was in 11 months from the day I received them.

7. Two days before departure, We took our proctored eMed tests. No appointment needed (nor available). Here's how they worked. 

7a. I used my Android cell phone for the tests. I scanned the QR code on the eMed test kit box to "start testing". This brought me to a login page (eMed account).

7b. I selected who was testing (all my family members were under my account). The software checked the network, microphone, speaker, and camera. You need to have photo ID available. (kids under 15 don't need photo ID but and adult will need to help with their test and have their ID). You will use the camera to show the proctor your photo ID.

7c. Answered a few questions, then it said "connecting you to a test proctor". This took around 30-60 seconds before the proctor came on the line.

7d. Most proctors didn't speak English very well and were hard to understand but we got through it. Using my cell camera, I showed them the QR code/Expiration date. I had to remove a sleeve on the box to expose that info.

7e. They kept switching between my front-facing camera and my rear facing camera. I did not control that. Was a bit odd. They then gave step-by-step instructions to administer the test. They want the camera facing you and the test card flat on the table in front of you. I propped up the phone.

7d. Open the box, take out what's inside: a swab, a test card, and a dropper of liquid. Box was much bigger than it needed to be.

7e. Open the test card, set it flat on the table. Place 6 drops of liquid in the small hole on top.

7f. Open the swab, gently swab your nose 5 times in each nostril. Insert the swab into the large hole in the card so it's visible in the small hole, twist 3 times.

7g. Expose adhesive and seal the card. Keep the card visible in the camera. They start a 15 minute timer and leave you. You can get up and leave but be sure you're back before the timer expires and your card is visible in the camera the whole time.

7h. Once the timer expires, a button will come up on the phone that says "I'm ready", press it and you'll be connected to a new proctor. Took around 30 seconds.

7i. You'll hold the camera over the QR code and test window on the card. Then they ask you to read the results: Two pink lines-positive, One pink line next to control-negative. All of our tests were negative. Yay! We are going on our cruise!

8. It took them about 1 minute to e-mail the test results to my e-mail address. All my family's results went to my e-mail address.

9. About 4 minutes later, your results showed up in the NAVICA app. I printed both the eMed e-mailed results and the results downloaded from NAVICA. (I think they just need the NAVICA results). I can also see the results on my cell phone NAVICA app.

 

Overall, each test took around 20 minutes total. It was very convenient to test at home. The app/cell phone worked great for testing. I would definitely use these tests again.

 

Hope this answers questions anyone might have. Good luck!

[ILOVESHIPS]

BE WAREof these  emed  test.

 

Took them to Europe.  Went  thru the whole  test  and  then   it  didn't  work  because  the  card  did  not  have a  sticker on it  to  seal  with.  It  was not  accepted.  You would  never  know  this  until  you completed  the  test.   Terrible.

[Leosmom]

ILOVESHIPS,  That is terrible!  Were you able to retest without having to pay the fee again?  I guess that’s why they say to have an extra test.

Hope it turned out well with you and you were able to go on your cruise.

 

 

 

[orville99]

59 minutes ago, cruisinfly said:

I've seen a lot of questions/discussions on COVID testing. My family took our eMed COVID tests and I thought I'd share my experience/procedures for anybody else planning to do this. Here's my experience in chronological order:

Best description of the process that we have ever read. Thanks for putting it all together in such a readable and easy to understand way.

[Wineaux007]

#2.  Some insurance companies won't cover unless it was prescribed by your Dr.  

[njkruzer]

3 hours ago, ILOVESHIPS said:

BE WAREof these  emed  test.

 

Took them to Europe.  Went  thru the whole  test  and  then   it  didn't  work  because  the  card  did  not  have a  sticker on it  to  seal  with.  It  was not  accepted.  You would  never  know  this  until  you completed  the  test.   Terrible.

This is why you have an extra test with you.

[GTO-Girl]

We have used these 5 times now……So easy and convenient!!

[njkruzer]

Just now, GTO-Girl said:

We have used these 5 times now……So easy and convenient!!

Agree.  Done them 3x.  Last time I. Our hotel in Amsterdam. 

[PhillyFan33579]

4 hours ago, ILOVESHIPS said:

BE WAREof these  emed  test.

 

Took them to Europe.  Went  thru the whole  test  and  then   it  didn't  work  because  the  card  did  not  have a  sticker on it  to  seal  with.  It  was not  accepted.  You would  never  know  this  until  you completed  the  test.   Terrible.

That’s why you should always have 2 test kits available per person. I have tested online for my last 7 cruises and find it very convenient. However, 2 of the times I tested there wasn’t a fluid bottle in the first test kit I opened. Both times I simply used another test kit and had no other issues. Also, both times they sent me a replacement test kit for free. 

[SKSMIKE5]

I assume they would not test all of you at one time? Thought maybe with a computer you could see multiple test cards and they'd allow it. I have to do four next Saturday and was curious about that.

[cruisinfly]

52 minutes ago, SKSMIKE5 said:

I assume they would not test all of you at one time? Thought maybe with a computer you could see multiple test cards and they'd allow it. I have to do four next Saturday and was curious about that.

I don't think they can test more than one person at a time with a single device/account. You can use different devices/accounts but you'll have your own session. We did ours individually.

[SKSMIKE5]

Thanks. I figured we had to do them separately. 

[LikeAllCruiseLines]

I'd like to add. I couldn't hear the proctor very good doing my test, kept telling proctor to speak up. Proctor could hear me fine. Finally, proctor started a chat mode. That worked great, proctor used chat for what proctor wanted me to do next! Did wife test next, told proctor right off we couldn't hear very good & use to chad mode. Everything went fine!

[helen haywood]

Chat mode is a good idea as most of the proctors have heavy accents.

[wildernesslady]

I have 1 test that does not have an expiration date on it.  Has anyone come across this?

[CowboyKidd]

This was very useful information. We just ordered 14 test kits for our family of 7. One test each to get on the cruiseship and one test to return home from our international flight. We have been so stressed out on how we were going to get this done in a timely manner. And yes, we did order a couple of extra kits just in case. Thank-you!

[not-enough-cruising]

18 hours ago, Wineaux007 said:

#2.  Some insurance companies won't cover unless it was prescribed by your Dr.  

Commercial insurers can NOT put this restriction on reimbursement, this is by federal law. 
Federally funded insurers are exempt from the reimbursement rules entirely. 

[CariBear]

How did you create an eMed account? I went to the home page and there is no place to create an account. I did order my tests and have them in hand. I can access "Start Test", but there is nowhere to create an account and add my family in advance. Thanks for the help!

[njkruzer]

32 minutes ago, CariBear said:

How did you create an eMed account? I went to the home page and there is no place to create an account. I did order my tests and have them in hand. I can access "Start Test", but there is nowhere to create an account and add my family in advance. Thanks for the help!

Go to emed.com, start test, you'll see that you can click create an account.   Looks like that works.

[Wineaux007]

31 minutes ago, CariBear said:

How did you create an eMed account? I went to the home page and there is no place to create an account. I did order my tests and have them in hand. I can access "Start Test", but there is nowhere to create an account and add my family in advance. Thanks for the help!

I believe you need to create a NAVICA account for everyone then go into emed and use those credentials to log in.  I used separate emails for me and my wife.  

[CariBear]

2 hours ago, njkruzer said:

Go to emed.com, start test, you'll see that you can click create an account.   Looks like that works.

Thanks! I didn't go that far, guess I should have tried that first.

[CariBear]

2 hours ago, Wineaux007 said:

I believe you need to create a NAVICA account for everyone then go into emed and use those credentials to log in.  I used separate emails for me and my wife.  

Thank you! I went ahead and created the NAVICA account and I think we are all set now.

[njkruzer]

Just now, CariBear said:

Thank you! I went ahead and created the NAVICA account and I think we are all set now.

Great!  Tests are easy. 

[klfrodo]

On 6/4/2022 at 2:26 PM, ILOVESHIPS said:

BE WAREof these  emed  test.

 

Took them to Europe.  Went  thru the whole  test  and  then   it  didn't  work  because  the  card  did  not  have a  sticker on it  to  seal  with.  It  was not  accepted.  You would  never  know  this  until  you completed  the  test.   Terrible.

VERY poor planning on your part if you didn't take an extra test with you just to avoid this kind of problem. People have been saying for months to have extra tests. Accidently spill the fluid, my box was empty on 1 test, the problem you ran into, etc, etc.

[njkruzer]

3 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

VERY poor planning on your part if you didn't take an extra test with you just to avoid this kind of problem. People have been saying for months to have extra tests. Accidently spill the fluid, my box was empty on 1 test, the problem you ran into, etc, etc.

Agree.  We had extras when we were in Amsterdam. Didn't need them but didn't want to take any chances.