32% of Medical Fridges
Fail Tests!
A
study by an ex head of hospital Pharmacy has revealed that out of 120
fridges used for the storage of vaccines and other susceptible substances at
GP surgeries, a staggering 32% of those failed to remain within the critical
temperature margins of between 2°C and 8°C.
The independent report was commissioned by the Vaccination and Inmunisation
Committee at the Victoria Hospital in Blackpool, Great Britain and was
carried out by David Stead a retired Principal Pharmacist. The study,
covering numerous locations in the north of
England involved
the installation of a Tinytag data logger in each fridge studied. The
loggers which are compact and battery operated are capable of logging the
data over extended periods of time, enabling researchers to monitor the
basic fridge temperatures, what happens if the fridge door is left ajar and
also the effects of hot weather.
It has been widely reported in the media how thousands of school children in
Wales had to be re-vaccinated after discovering that the vaccine used had
breached the temperature limits. Not only are there inherent public health
concerns with this problem, but Vaccine Community Services find themselves
regularly shouldering the cost of replacing expensive vaccines.
An Issue of Compliance
David Stead’s research shows that staff involved in
the use and storage of vaccines are mostly aware of the restrictive
temperature criteria, yet monitoring systems currently used are worryingly
flawed. “The data shows that a number of the fridges were clearly not
working within the set temperature ranges and in some cases, fridges were
actually turned off overnight, or indeed over whole weekends. There were
also big variations within individual fridges, with the worst location being
in the door and at the back of the bottom of the fridge.” Ian Gander from
Gemini Data Loggers said, “The solution to this problem is quite simple.
Installing a Tinytag data logger not only enables the temperature of fridges
to be quickly, efficiently and accurately monitored, but the loggers are
also fitted with flashing LED alarms which are triggered when the
temperature goes out of range.” To ensure that the alarms are not triggered
by a brief opening of the fridge door, the temperature sensor is mounted
inside the casing of the logger and has a time-temperature reaction which
closely mimics that of both vials and box packaged doses.
The study reported that adjustments to fridge operation on the basis of data
collected resulted in correct temperature controls in the majority of units
tested. Tinytag can take and record up to 16,000 readings with data and
graphs being stored on a PC for a permanent, traceable record. The small
investment is quickly offset against wasted vaccine. The improved
safety to
public health is of course priceless and with more pressure being applied by
Health Authorities for stronger regulation, Intab have come up with a timely
answer to a problem receiving increasing focus. These tougher regulations
are already impacting the cold chain process within pharmaceutical
transportation, an area in which Tinytags are widely used. These regulations
are now beginning to be enforced in final storage destinations such as the
fridges in hospitals, GP surgeries and pharmacies. Perhaps a little forward
thinking may be prudent and save time and money right now!
