Blood Storage and Transportation Equipment

How is Blood Stored?

In order to be stored appropriately, blood needs to be broken down into its basic components. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Guidelines, blood once collected needs to be stored at temperatures between 1-6º Celsius. Plasma extracted from the blood requires much lower temperatures for storage as it needs to be frozen at ≤-18ºC to maintain its efficacy. 

Equipment used to Store and Transport Blood

Medical Refrigerators: 

These are usually used to store whole blood, red blood cells and other blood components that are required to be stored at temperatures between +4°C ± 2°C. These refrigerators are usually upright, freestanding units that are built with features to support storage of sensitive medical components. In some instances, major blood transfusion centers could employ cold rooms for bulk storage of blood and its components. Under controlled conditions, solar or gas-powered storage devices could also be utilized.

Plasma Storage Freezers: 

As plasma needs to be stored at much lower temperatures than whole blood, they require special freezers wherein they are frozen till the time they are to be used. These freezers are specifically designed to maintain ideal temperatures to ensure the quality and efficacy of plasma. They could be either upright freestanding freezers or freezer rooms that are built into the blood transfusion center. 

Room Temperature Facilities: 

As the name suggests, these facilities maintain ambient or room temperatures suitable for storage of platelets and fresh blood.

Transport Containers:

Care for blood and its components begins from the moment it is collected from the donor. Thus, it is vital that it is stored appropriately from the start. A transport container such as a portable medical refrigerator or freezer serves this purpose efficiently. 

The purpose of these containers is to temporarily maintain temperatures required for appropriate storage of blood till it is transferred to a medical refrigerator or freezer. Placing frozen coolants increases the amount of time that blood can be stored in the transport container. The containers are designed to be robust, practical and low maintenance to facilitate smooth storage and transportation of blood.

Biofridge Solutions

When it comes to storage of sensitive and lifesaving medical articles like blood, appropriate handling as well as functional and efficient equipment are crucial. Biofridge specializes in portable medical refrigerators as well as freezers that you can count on for safe storage of blood, vaccines, drugs and other medical items.

BFT-20 Portable Refrigerator/Freezer

Biofridge freezers and refrigerators are designed for massive transfusion protocols and aim to reduce blood component wastage during trauma cases. They include an internal fan for temperature maintenance as well as digital thermostats that monitor temperature and notify fluctuations.

Our portable devices are durable and practical in design. They also have the provision of downloadable temperature records for ease of data monitoring. Being an environmentally conscious organization, all our products are CFC free. 

Browse through our products to see which best fits your needs. You can also speak to us directly by dialing 760-233-8847 and we will help you find the product most suitable for you.

Sources:

• https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=640&showFR=1#:~:text=(h)%20Storage.,center%20to%20the%20processing%20laboratory 
• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1751-2824.2008.00196.x