BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The German Armed Forces Blood Service in Koblenz supplies red blood cell concentrates (RBCs) to military and civilian institutions at home and to field hospitals during peacekeeping operations abroad. During long-distance transport, blood products can be exposed to extreme environmental conditions or inappropriate handling, which may compromise product quality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Different active and passive cooling systems, cooling elements, packaging material and data loggers were examined in a climate chamber. A number of techniques for measuring temperature were investigated in order to preserve the blood products' quality during transport, including some field tests with multiparametric data recording. RESULTS: Any kind of active cooling systems, conventional cooling elements and customary packaging material, as well as temperature-sensitive labels, minimum-maximum thermometers and intra-product measurement were found to be unsuitable for military requirement. The best results were obtained when the passively cooling RCB 25 transport box (Dometic) was used together with latent heat/cold storage elements (deltaT) and Junior data loggers (Escort). CONCLUSION: The elaborated protocol allows temperatures to be maintained between 2 and 6 degrees C as required by European guidelines for at least 36 h each and between 1 and 10 degrees C as required by German guidelines for at least 48 or 64 h at ambient temperatures between -10 and 40 degrees C. Preliminary results indicate that care must be taken concerning additional factors such as air pressure variation or vibration.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The German Armed Forces Blood Service in Koblenz supplies red blood cell concentrates (RBCs) to military and civilian institutions at home and to field hospitals during peacekeeping operations abroad. During long-distance transport, blood products can be exposed to extreme environmental conditions or inappropriate handling, which may compromise product quality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Different active and passive cooling systems, cooling elements, packaging material and data loggers were examined in a climate chamber. A number of techniques for measuring temperature were investigated in order to preserve the blood products' quality during transport, including some field tests with multiparametric data recording. RESULTS: Any kind of active cooling systems, conventional cooling elements and customary packaging material, as well as temperature-sensitive labels, minimum-maximum thermometers and intra-product measurement were found to be unsuitable for military requirement. The best results were obtained when the passively cooling RCB 25 transport box (Dometic) was used together with latent heat/cold storage elements (deltaT) and Junior data loggers (Escort). CONCLUSION: The elaborated protocol allows temperatures to be maintained between 2 and 6 degrees C as required by European guidelines for at least 36 h each and between 1 and 10 degrees C as required by German guidelines for at least 48 or 64 h at ambient temperatures between -10 and 40 degrees C. Preliminary results indicate that care must be taken concerning additional factors such as air pressure variation or vibration.
Authors: Clemens Boecker; Nicole Sitzmann; Jose Luis Halblaub Miranda; Hajo Suhr; Philipp Wiedemann; Karen Bieback; Marcus Rudolph; Harald Klüter Journal: Transfus Med Hemother Date: 2022-02-15 Impact factor: 4.040
Authors: Gert Reiter; Ursula Reiter; Thomas Wagner; Noemi Kozma; Jörg Roland; Helmut Schöllnast; Franz Ebner; Gerhard Lanzer Journal: PLoS One Date: 2013-02-28 Impact factor: 3.240