Medical Refrigerators Storage Requirements for Blood Bank Units

Posted by webisimo on November 6th, 2014

Surveys show that the supply of blood is quite low when compared to its demand. For this reason, experts have come up with stringent guidelines to ensure its safe storage. Given below is a brief description of some of them.

Guidelines in maintaining optimum temperature

FDA and other organizations working in the field require health professionals to maintain utmost accuracy in temperature in a blood bank refrigeration unit. Look for the following features when shopping for the same or ask for help on specialized medical equipment stores.

• Temperature alarm: Take care to ensure that the refrigerator of your choice is equipped with the most effective temperature alarm system available. It can fluctuate due to numerous reasons; when opening and closing the doors frequently or if power goes off.
• Mechanism to record the temperature: The recording capabilities in your choice unit have to be the most accurate one can afford to have. The unit should not only facilitate recording the temperature from the inside, you should be able to do the same using a USB stick.

Other features

• Utmost durability: Go for those units which feature stainless steel doors. They should also be easy to clean and maintain.
• Energy efficiency: Your favorite model should be designed in such a way as to lower the energy consumption. It should also have features designed to ensure uninterrupted power supply. Know that this is a must to ensure uniformity in temperature inside the unit.
• Maximum hygiene: This is something you should never ignore when shopping for a blood bank refrigerator. It should have some kind of an arrangement to ensure that the water used for the cooling process does not become a breeding ground for bacteria and other germs. Go for a unit which is equipped with a mechanism to dispose of the unwanted water safely. The outlet of the water should be at least 10 feet away from the refrigerator body.
• Net capacity: The capacity of biomedical refrigerators available in the market today, varies from a minimum of 80L to about 1500L. Many manufacturers also produce custom sizes depending on the requirement of the medical organization or laboratory.
• Shapes of the refrigerators: The most common kind of medical cooling units are vertical in nature. However, you will also conveniently find refrigerators that are horizontal assemblies to allow good space utilization.
• Power supply: Most of the brands offer refrigerators that consume power at 230 volts and frequency that ranges between 50 to 60 Hz. They also constitute one compressor on an average; however customized refrigerators can have more than one compressor too.
• Defrosting: All medical refrigerators have a defrosting feature. Some brands offer a manual defrosting feature, where has some also offer an auto-defrost mechanism.
• Cabinet material: Other than the stainless steel body of the refrigerator, the cabinet of the refrigerator is usually made up of varnished steel. This is not just durable but also possesses insulation properties. This added feature helps in durability in areas that experience maximum moisture in the atmosphere.

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