Monitoring cold storage increases patient safety hospitals

Monitoring cold storage increases patient safety hospitals

A hospital can’t  without refrigeration. Expensive drugs and body chemicals are in refrigeration and freezer storage cells. Monitoring of the cells from the standpoint of patient safety is extremely important. St. Anthony, Diaconessenhuis Meppel Atrium and give the example.
The top clinical St. Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein / Utrecht, spread across three locations over forty refrigerators and freezers are. To monitor the cabinets with data lines connected to the building management. But that is not ideal. In a rapid response to temperature variation. However, it may take a while someone from the technical department in a refrigerator. "The contents of such units is very costly and loss, the patient in danger. Speed of action is necessary. We have therefore taken the step to be together 43 chilled and frozen cells to monitor the wireless test solution Dyzle, "explains Martin Figee, operations manager clinical chemistry and pathology of the St. Antonius Hospital, explains. He is responsible for the non-medical activities, such as financial management and facility management. ,, If anything in a cold room than the staff of that department like a message. We are operational 24 hours a day. There is always someone who can see what there is. For example, the door is open it can be concluded quickly. "

Anthony decided to monitor the switch to Dyzle because it is not only a real-time system, but the data also presented additional insight. The people who now get the message but are not technicians on duty analyst. "For you, it is very important that the presentation is clear,''Rob knows Plaggenhoef Dyzle experience. "In the cell we place our wireless temperature sensors (Y-tags) that indicates the temperature constant through the router (Y-Gate). This is via GPRS in contact with our server. "
Figee adds: "The data on the server Dyzle are held here on the Internet via a dashboard. Should a boundary running from his box then it is visible on the dashboard, but is also transmitted via an SMS, PC or phone to the attending analyst. Such action may be right, because stored body materials such as tissue, blood or viruses never too much in temprature fluctuations. We have body material to minus 80 degrees Celsius there let nothing happen. Because we are a top clinical hospital, takes place here on extensive research on the products we have frozen. "

Data loggers
Since the autumn of 2010 the wireless temperature monitoring of the blood-Dyzle, refrigerators and freezers in the Atrium MC Heerlen. Here, the measurements yielded very quickly that there were cabinets that are not 100 percent functional. "We are CCKL (Coordinating Committee for the promotion of the Quality Control Laboratory in the Healthcare / ed.) Accredited. The quality of our laboratory is high, so that our equipment should be,''explains Sjef Schröder, head of clinical chemical and hematological laboratory of Atrium MC. "We found out that some refrigerators did not meet the high standard. For reasons of patient safety is definitely not. Because we can measure real time we saw that already replaced fridges were not within our standards. Once we put data loggers in our refrigerators and freezers. Once a week we read from. We could not see if the cooling real well functioned. Another advantage is that we of this time-consuming weekly job off. "Schröder What is striking is that the flexibility of his department has increased. He does not have the technical department to turn to or to move a refrigerator. Schroeder: "We can now easily own cabinet move, because the sensors are wireless. We do not have to hannesen wired. "

Medicinal Research
Figee Martin of the St. Anthony is already looking back to a new application. The next step in his hospital Dyzle the monitoring of shipments. Figee: "Because we have significant research, we also send material to other research. Now we can better monitor a refrigerated transport. Again, the temperature does not rise too much otherwise the material is worthless and this is certainly not benefit the patient. "

In the warehouse in Meppel, Meppel-Hoogeveen of the hospital, medicines are under the right (cold) conditions preserved. Also, clinical trials for drug companies is done through the hospital. "Because this research under strict conditions made, including monitor and record the temperature of the study drugs was necessary to make a suitable solution for this,''explains Dick Dengerink, quality manager of the Hospital of the Health Combination Northern Arc, the purchase Dyzle of equipment for 36 points. "We are hoping to ensure that all medicines and research materials - in our management and continue to be stored correctly. For that reason, the sensors measure not only temperature but also humidity of certain rooms. We have raw materials in stock which we make medicines. Now we are capable of better conditions of those substances to be monitored. This additional measure would also cause an extra degree of certainty. It guarantees at least one of the many standards including GMP z ** (required by the Health Care Inspectorate) of us. "