Sarstedt Sahara III Plasma Thawer

[HRCantrell]

Does anyone have experience with the Sahara III plasma thawers from Sarstedt?   We got funds to replace our two Helmer DH-8 units, which actually operate ok, but are hard to drain and clean in their current location in our lab.  I'm interested in a dry thawer, but other than seeing these at AABB, I have nothing to go on.  Everyone I know still use the old water bath method.    I'm hesitant to think about a microwave, because we rarely thaw 1 or 2 at a time (unless it's pre-pooled cryo).    Any suggestions? 

Thanks!

[Auntie-D]

OMG I love it! I wouldn't bother with the heat plate as it just takes up room and doesn't really speed up the thaw much. There is fast thaw for FFP and then a normal thaw for cryo and paed packs. It's great in that there is a printer attached that tells you when the ice is going, so even if the 'set time' hasn't passed, a unit can still be removed safely. On the print it also logs the temperature of the unit at 1 minute increments. Get one! You won't regret it...

 

We have two so we have a backup but if we are thawing 4 units we split them between the two machines to speed up the thaw.

 

Plus you don't have any stinky water to deal with.

 

ETA - or scrambled egg when they burst in a microwave...

 

ETA2 - I can also recommend their ESR machine that samples from a FBC tube

 

ETA3 - We attach a barcode label to the printout which allows it to be scanned and attached to the patient record.

Edited November 11, 2014 by Auntie-D