Does anyone have experience with the Credo (prviously Golden Hour) series 4 EMT or OR cooler set-ups? I want to look at using them for our air ambulances.

Mabel -

We started using the Credo "Series OR-4 Coolers" from Minnesota Thermal Science in March 2009. We have been very pleased with them, and I suspect that they would fit the bill for your air ambulances. Was there some particular aspect that you were looking for more info?

One comment: We only transport one unit of Packed Red Cells per cooler at a time. We could probably fit two units in a cooler, but if you are looking for something that will hold more than a couple of units of Packed Red Cells, the coolers that we use would not work.

Donna

Do they hold temperature as advertised? Is the process to "re-charge" them in the freezer cumbersome or hard to make sure gets done for the right number of hours? Does OR (or whoever is the end-user) like them okay? Do they hold up? The OR cooler one looked like you had to pop the igloo lid out of its hinges all the time; do the lids wear out so they don't stay in? How often are you revalidating them? Are they easy to pack and give uniform perfomance because no one has to get the right amount of ice in them like you would with traditional coolers? Are there any problems or negative things you have experienced with them?

Mabel -

We don't use them for Surgery. (We have a BB refrig there. ) We only use them to deliver blood to our Out Pt Transfusion Dept a block away, so we have a policy of a 4 hour limit. However, we validated them for 6 hours, and from what I have heard from other users, I suspect they do keep their temp for many more hours.

Yes, we like them, and our Out Pt area likes them. You know, at first the "re-charging" them in the freezer sounded confusing and cumbersome, but we just make sure the second shift techs put them in the freezer by 11 PM every night, then the coolers are ready to go in the morning.

They hold up great. The lid is like a flip lid with a hinge; it's not a problem, it stays closed, and doesn't wear out. We revalidate the coolers every 6 months. (In the hot summer and cold winter.) They are easy to pack. We just pack and send one unit at a time, so we made dummy donor bags filled with water and kept in the BB refrig. It's probably overkill, but we put the digital thermometer in the cooler, then the unit of packed cells, then a cold dummy bag on top of the packed cells. Our data for 8 months has all been fine, so we could probably drop the thermometer and cold dummy bag.

What I don't like about them: 1.) I had a difficult time finding a thermometer small enough to use in them. I finally found a traceable digital thermometer (from "Control Company") which I really like, but it just barely fits in the cooler. 2.) As I mentioned, I don't think the cooler will hold more than 2 or 3 donor units. That's not a problem for us, but it would be if you wanted to send 4 units to the surgery suite.

I have probably told you more than you wanted to know!

Donna

The company is coming out with a larger version of the 4OR cooler. They state that it will hold 8-12 units and hold the temperature for up to 18 hours. They are supposed to be available this month. Here's the link:

http://www.credothermal.com/ORC_Specs.pdf