» » » Safety First! Reliability in Clinical Lab Refrigerators and Freezers

Safety First! Reliability in Clinical Lab Refrigerators and Freezers

Single Vendor Advantages

 

There are many types of clinical lab refrigerators and freezers on the market today, but some principles apply across the board when it comes to storing medical products. One principle is that the equipment purchased must be compatible with the items that will be stored in it. That seems obvious, but the large variety of solutions, samples, medications, vaccines, specialized food products, and biologics that are stored today makes the choice of this particular type of medical grade storage equipment more complex than in the past. Different types of loads require specific storage temperatures, but it is equipment reliability or dependability that ensures medical products are kept safe.

 

Medical Grade Refrigerators and Freezers are High Performance Units

 

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) developed a "Vaccine Storage & Handling Toolkit." Though this toolkit addresses a particular type of medical item, the general principles apply to anything stored - biologics, patient specimens, pharmaceuticals requiring temperature control, blood, plasma, research reagents, vaccines and other items like patient nourishments. They are used in hospital, clinics, emergency facilities, physician offices, and industrial laboratories or at any location that has sensitive products that need to be maintained at a temperature with a high degree of reliability. The temperature reliability is key to ensuring the stored items are not compromised, so they do not become ineffective, useless, and/or even dangerous.

 

Medical grade refrigerators and freezers have characteristics not found in standard refrigerators and freezers. They are designed to perform in ways the home or office units cannot. One is that they can maintain the required and critical non-fluctuating temperature. Another difference is they are made of materials like stainless steel which is more durable and better contributes to temperature control. Yet another difference is that the refrigerators and freezers used by medical and laboratory persons is that they have unique designs like glass doors or fronts, temperature alarms and advanced fan control for rapid temperature recovery after a door or access port is opened.

 

Adhering to Storage Principles

 

The clinical lab refrigerators and freezers can be sorted into four major categories: general purpose, pharmacy, vaccine and blood. Some units serve a dual purpose, like vaccine and pharmaceutical refrigerators. Selecting the right refrigerator or freezer for medical or research products means recognizing there are rigid storage requirements that are addressed with the design of medical grade units versus the appliances used in homes and offices.

 

The CDS's vaccine storage principles in the toolkit are a good example of the principles that apply across the board, in addition to providing guidelines specifically for vaccines.

 

  • Utilize appropriate storage and temperature monitoring equipment
  • Keep items sorted and organized in the storage unit and manage the inventory on a routine basis
  • Have procedures in place for identifying soon-to-expire vaccines, drugs, samples, specimens, etc.
  • Be able to establish a stabilized temperature
  • Have procedures in place for identifying temperature excursions
  • Utilize well-maintained refrigerator and freezer units
  • Document monitoring process and event reporting, like a temperature excursion

 

A well-maintained clinical lab refrigerator and/or freezer has:

 

  • Good door seals with no gaps
  • Smooth working hinges
  • Clean motor and coils with no dust, grime, or dirt buildup
  • Been regularly defrosted either manually or automatically
  • Been regularly calibrated to ensure equipment maintains temperature accuracy

 

The condition of the doors, door seals and hinges are particularly important, per the CDC. A poor seal causes several issues. One is that a sensitive load, like vaccines, is potentially exposed to light through cracks in the seals which in turn can reduce potency. Another problem is that the unit will respond to the room temperature and work harder to maintain the right temperature. This causes temperature fluctuations in different areas of the unit. Old refrigerators and freezers should be replaced with newer models because the newer models incorporate modern technology and results of years of research on medical product storage.

 

Safety First

 

In 2015, the Journal Sentinel investigated laboratory problems that are systematic because 70 percent of medical decisions and treatments are influenced by lab tests. There are over 35,000 labs in the U.S. and more than 7-10 billion lab tests. One of the serious mistakes mentioned was not keeping blood cold at the right temperature before a transfusion. Some of the safety and control procedures recommended included proper storage of samples mixed with compounds because they deteriorate over time. Clearly, clinical lab refrigerators and freezers play a central role in the delivery of high quality and accurate health care.

 

Lab refrigerators & freezers are high quality devices that were designed with critical medical product storage principles in mind. They deliver high performance and reliability. The staff at MSEC can provide additional detailed information and answer questions about products to assist customers with the best choice.