The value of medical-grade refrigeration equipment in clinical settings is well documented with vital applicability in the laboratory, blood bank, and pharmacy, among other practice areas. Devices engineered specifically for storing and maintaining blood products, reagents, vaccines, and patient samples can have a significantly positive impact on operations by ensuring the conditions necessary for viability always remain intact. Further, as these devices have grown in sophistication, they have incorporated data producing software and multifaceted alarming and notification systems.

All of these developments are valuable to laboratory, blood bank, and facility operations, given the many challenges to the efficient and expeditious provision of lifesaving refrigerated products (markedly, blood products) in the hospital setting. Given the invaluable nature of refrigerated products in the clinical setting, every available measure should be taken to ensure products are properly stored, accessed, used, and accounted for. A detailed policy and procedure should outline the functionality of refrigeration devices, their intended use, allowable access, accounting, cleaning and maintenance, and product cycling.

Exercising control over the storage and utilization of blood products is a primary function of the clinical blood bank, but that control does not need to be confined within the walls of the blood bank. As with any process, determine the course of action that best fits your facility and workflow. Blood bank transportation and courier systems can work perfectly well, but placing medical-grade refrigeration in other departments of need may reap significant time, product, and financial savings.