Cost Effective Monitoring – A few simple steps to bring efficiencies and improve lives.

Irreplaceable biomedical samples, medicines, vaccines and chemicals need to be kept at their appropriate temperatures. It is therefore important to make sure they are stored with the necessary compliance to ensure lives aren’t put at risk.

Taking the example of the Tuberculosis vaccine, BCG, which must be stored between +2˚C and +8˚C. The vaccine once it has been manufactured goes through various stages before it gets to the customer. From storage within the manufacturing facility, to transportation to the GP surgery or hospital, the vaccine must be kept at a regulated temperature.

The obvious implication of a vaccine arriving at its end point, not in its optimum state means that the patient can not be vaccinated. This can potentially put patient lives and others around them at risk.

The secondary implication is cost. A single vaccine costs approximately £80, therefore loss of a shipment of vaccines can reach thousands of pounds. Not to mention the time and cost of the nurse, who can no longer be used to administer the vaccination.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention say that every vaccine storage unit must have a Temperature Monitoring Device (TMD). They also provide the authority that is needed to advise medical providers in several different areas such as:

  • The initial recommended set up of a storage unit.
  • The type of unit needed for storage and that it should have a readable screen on the storage unit.
  • Accurate storage unit temperature information, including details of how long a unit has been operating outside the recommended temperature range (temperature excursion).
  • Data should be kept for three years so it can be analysed for long-term trends and/or recurring problems. This data should be captured at least every 30 minutes.
  • An alarm is needed for when the temperature goes out of range and what should happen if a unit’s temperature changes.
  • There should be a current, minimum and maximum temperature display with an accuracy to +/-0.5˚C (+/-1˚F).

The cost effective KoolZone Monitoring Platform and Sensors have been designed specifically with these requirements in mind, to ensure their customers are compliant.

The KoolZone Sensor technology, using LoRaWAN, can monitor the vaccine from within the most extreme environments such as fridges and freezers. The sensors can collect the temperature of a storage unit from the point of manufacture, during transportation, right up to and including its final destination (cold chain). Combining the temperature sensors with door opening and power supply sensors can provide the customer with a full perspective of what is happening to their vaccines. If a door is left open it can expose vaccines to light, which can also reduce their potency. Likewise, if the power to the storage unit gets disrupted it can ruin a whole supply, but with a pre-warning of a disruption a customer can take the necessary action before the temperature inside the storage unit changes.

The KoolZone Monitoring Platform monitors these sensors and records the necessary data at pre-defined intervals. Should the temperature move out of its pre-defined range within the storage unit, an alert can be sent by text, email or phone to designated individuals responsible for the goods. At any point in time, reports can be produced for any compliance reporting that may be required. This all round, cost effective solution, gives peace of mind to manufacturers, medical transportation services and hospitals, to know they are doing what they do best – saving lives.

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