Accsense Complies with Latest CDC Guidelines for Vaccine Storage


Automated Phone Alarming from CAS DataLoggers Helps Protect Vaccines



CHESTERLAND OH — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has new interim guidelines regarding vaccine storage and medical monitoring. These industry suggestions come in reaction to a sobering study on wasted vaccine supplies which broke on major news outlets, as CAS DataLoggers reported in 'Widespread Vaccine Storage Negligence Comes to National Attention'. To combat this pervasive loss, our Accsense medical monitoring systems send you automated phone alarms to help protect your high-value vaccines in childrens' clinics, pharmacies and many other healthcare institutions.



Among its new guidelines, the CDC strongly recommends placing water bottles in your medical storage units, since many of the vaccines in the study were found to have developed ice crystals, rendering them unusable. Use plastic bottles made from polypropylene or polyethylene which have a little stretch to them so they don't rupture. As the water freezes, it releases heat into the system through the process of crystallization; this absorbs energy and dramatically slows down the rate at which your unit temperature falls, stabilizing as it approaches 0°C so that vaccine supplies are less likely to freeze. Once the temperature stabilizes, it will seldom vary. The number of bottles you should use depends on available space, but the new guidelines recommend filling all your units.



The CDC also suggests abandoning the common use of 'dorm fridges' instead of proper medical storage units, stating that any fridge without fully separate compartments for a freezer and refrigerator should NOT be used. The temperature differential in these units is too great to allow any reasonably accurate monitoring.



Included in the guidelines is the recommendation that institutions and organizations have their sensors and systems NIST-calibrated to guarantee high-precision measurements. Sensors monitoring childrens’ vaccines should be recalibrated every 6 months, and the CDC's accuracy standards indicate a + or – ½° Celcius in the 0-15°C degree range. Accsense real-time monitoring systems from CAS DataLoggers are fully compliant with these guidelines, and we recommend getting NIST calibration for your sensors in the 15°C range to confirm you have 0.5°C accuracy.



A common problem is that frequent door opening and closing can make your temperature readings both inaccurate and unreliable. Taking this into account, the CDC suggests that you place your temperature probes directly into the fridge and into bottles of propylene glycol, a process detailed in our recent technical article on the subject. Taking this precaution, you can create a cheap and effective temperature buffer for the sensor, dampening it so that its readings are much more accurate and no longer thrown off by constantly opening the door.



Some institutions use inexpensive temperature recorders for their storage units. This is fine for taking readings, but as the study shows, if your fridge shuts off without a failsafe such as Accsense’s automated phone calls, you could return on Monday to find you've lost as much as thousands of dollars of product. This advanced alarm functionality is the real Accsense advantage. Our systems are extremely cost-effective for monitoring several units at once in clinics, hospitals and pharmacies, and provide peace of mind from liability concerns.



For more info on our Accsense wired and wireless temperature monitoring solutions, featuring real time viewing of data in cloud based storage, or to find the ideal device for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Applications Analyst at (800) 956-4437 or visit the website at www.DataLoggerInc.com.  



Contact Information:

CAS DataLoggers, Inc.

12628 Chillicothe Road

Chesterland, Ohio 44026

(440) 729-2570

(800) 956-4437

sales@dataloggerinc.com 

www.dataloggerinc.com

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