One of the most crucial pieces of equipment, besides the doctors themselves, are medical refrigerators and freezers. Now, these are not for storing foods and drinks, no. Their primary use is freezing, or cooling, vaccines and medical samples. However, these are not to be used for storing blood.
What use do you get from medical refrigerators and freezers? An estimated $20 million worth of vaccines spoil every single year because of inconsistent refrigeration. When vaccines have the power to prevent 2.5 million and more deaths annually, consistent refrigeration is essential and should be top priority.
How can I prevent spoiling? First, assigning a vaccine coordinator will streamline the process. They must, of course, be qualified for the job. Their job is monitor, maintain and catalog all vaccines that enter and leave the facility. Failure to appoint a vaccine coordinator will cost more money leaving it up to the hands of a few, thereby increasing the chances of mistakes made. It is safer for one to be trained in that field, with at least one other for support and backup, than to risk vaccines spoiling.
Furthermore, the size of the refrigerators and freezers also plays an important role on the shelf life of vaccines and samples. Have one too small and you risk over-stuffing, increasing the likelihood of vaccines and samples spoiling; have one too big with too few vaccines and samples and you run the risk of irregular temperatures, again, spoiling the contents inside. An equilibrium must be met. The sweet spot is 30 percent to 80 percent. The higher 80 percent should be the maximum capacity on a busy day.
It would probably be for the best to allocate vaccines that need to be frozen to a designated vaccine freezer. According to the United States Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the internal temperature of the freezer needs to be met between -58 degrees and 5 degrees Fahrenheit. For those that work in Celsius, that is -50 to -15 degrees Celsius.
It would probably be for the best to allocate vaccines that need to be refrigerated to a designated vaccine refrigerator. According to the United States Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the internal temperature of the refrigerator needs to be met at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. For those that work in Celsius, that is 5 degrees Celsius.
Vaccines continue to be an invaluable asset to the medical world and its patients. Measles, admittedly, still claims thousands of lives but thanks to vaccines the number of deaths dropped drastically by 79 percent between the years of 2000 and 2014. In other words, 546,800 deaths down to 114,900 with the World Health Organization and the Measles and Rubella Initiative making claim to 17.1 million lives saved by the measles vaccine ever since 2000. It is only a matter of time before measles are a thing of the past. That is why it is important and absolutely crucial for medical refrigerators and freezers, these biomedical refrigerators and freezers, to continue to do their job.
