We talk to our customers about the importance of maintaining the accuracy of their breath alcohol test instruments by performing Accuracy Checks and Calibration Adjustments, and we devote a significant amount of our classroom BAT training on how to perform these procedures as well. An element that sometimes doesn’t get as much discussion is the one thing necessary to perform Accuracy Checks and Calibration Adjustments: the Calibration Standard.

A Calibration Standard is a known quantity that we use to compare against our measuring device – in this case, a breath alcohol testing device. In medical settings calibration standards are frequently called “controls, and the process that we typically call Accuracy Check is called “running a control.” Depending on the particular device, it is not unusual for staff in medical settings to run a “high control” and a “low control” in order to verify that the device in question is giving correct readings. In alcohol testing, however, it is customary to verify at only one point.