We transport blood products to our OR's in Igloo coolers. The coolers themselves have been validated by us.

We would like to perform audits of the blood products.

Is anyone currently using a temperature device that is adhered to the unit, and what has your experience with them been?

I am aware of Safe-T-Vue and HemoTemp indicators. The HemoTemp indicators are reversible, so they are not suitable for what we want to audit.

Cliff the Hemo-Temps we use are reversible in different colors as long as the temp is in the acceptable range. Once they have exceeded the acceptable change they stay changed and are not reversible.

A couple of years ago I was evaluating different temp monitors and really like the Delta Trak but the corporate team didn't want to change. You may want to look at them. I think they worked very well and were extremely easy to use

Thanks John,

I was looking at the HemoTemp, I see there is also the HemoTemp II that has the irreversible indicator, maybe we'll try some of these.

What is Delta Trak? I found a site that looks like it, but it seems more like a data logging device. If so, we are using TempTale devices and have had great success with them.

At our facility, we too send blood out to surgery in temperature validated IgLoo transport coolers. We use the Safe-T-Vue temp dots -- they have worked extremely well for us. We have now been using them for over 5 years and are very pleased with the performance. There is a company who markets specialised transport containers with on board temperature monitors. We looked at them last year - based on our budget, we opted to stay withe the Safe-T-Vue Temp Indicator dots.

Delta Trak is a large company with many temperature monitoring devises. They do have a system similar to the Safe-T-Vue and Hemotemp II. It's a color change strip that is much simpler to use than the Safe-T-Vue and I think more sensitive than the Hemotemp II. I've known techs who could not touch a Safe-T-Vue without "setting it off". By the way, I should have mentioned that it is the HemoTemp II we are currently using. Any time blood goes out in a cooler every unit is required to have one attached.

I would be interested in obtaining more information on the Delta Trak System. Do you have a web site or phone number for the company? I tried a Web Search and was not very successful.

Thanks

Here is there site: http://www.deltatrak.com/

We use the Temp-Tale data logger for our long distance (sometimes as far as 5,000 miles) to monitor the temperature during blood transport. These devices are computer programmed to take the temperature at intervals. These intervals can be as short as every 30 seconds or as long as every 10 minutes. Once the delivery is complete the logger is returned and interogated on the computer giving a print-out of the complete temperature profile.

If the blood is remaining in the cooler in the OR it's storage, and you've got to find a monitoring device that tracks temperatures between 1-6 degrees - and so far I haven't found any that stick on the unit that capture this. They all go to 10 degrees which is transport only - not storage.

Annually we validate our coolers (which are used for storage in the OR) by packing a mock unit with a thermometer in it with the real units. Upon the return of the cooler we record the temperature of the mock unit (which should be 1-6oC).

We consider blood in our emergency coolers to be in transport between the OR/ICU and the transfusion service. If this transport takes a few hours we see no difference than sending them to another facility or back to the supplier other than every unit is monitored with a HemoTemp II just in case they are removed and then returned to the cooler. I know it's a matter of semantics but that's how we define it here.

We're getting ready to switch to using individual coolers for each OR patient. For those of you that are already using this type of a procedure, do you use a temp indicator in each cooler or do you simply consider it satisfactory storage conditions based on your validation data for the coolers?

We use Safe-T-Vues. There is no guarantee they won't take the blood out of the cooler without such an irreversible temperature checking device.

BC

We recently purchased the Hemo Temp 2 blood tags. Working on the Validation Plan and SOP. Does any one have any exsisting blood tag SOP available. It would be very Helpful.