Medical Refrigeration Can Be Complicated

medical cold room hire
03-Jun-2015

In previous blog posts, we have briefly touched on the need for providing temporary refrigeration to companies storing medical supplies. Now we want to carry that thought one step further by talking about the complex nature of these kinds of operations. It is one thing for a restaurant to call us looking for an emergency refrigerated trailer in the heart of London; it is entirely different to receive a call from a medical facility in need of temporary cold storage.

Understanding the complex nature of medical refrigeration starts by realising how sensitive medical supplies are. For example, compare vaccines and blood supplies to the food products your local restaurant needs to keep cold. The restaurant has a much wider range of tolerance to work with as long as food products are not allowed to spoil. The fact that the food will eventually be cooked eliminates a lot of the risk anyway. Medical facilities have neither the luxury nor the ability to work in such a broad temperature range.

Some medical supplies are incredibly heat sensitive but cannot be frozen. They may require temporary refrigeration that hovers just above 0°C without any risk of accidentally dropping below that temperature. Other supplies do very well in frozen environments. In both cases, there may be only a swing of a few degrees in either direction before medical supplies are damaged. When we provide temporary refrigeration for medical facilities, such exacting temperatures must always be considered.

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Other Concerns

Temperature is not the only thing we have to worry about when working with medical supplies. Our list of additional concerns includes:

  • Humidity – Improper levels of humidity can damage medical supplies as easily as temperatures that are too high or low. Therefore, humidity must be tightly controlled within the refrigerated environment. This can be achieved through ventilation, packaging, and other methods.
  • Air Circulation – Believe it or not, it can be difficult to maintain precise temperatures if multiple temporary refrigeration units are used too closely together. For example, the use of refrigerated and freezer trailers side-by-side requires ample space between them to allow for plenty of air circulation. If air cannot circulate properly, temperatures could be off by a degree or two – just enough to be a problem.
  • Emergency Refrigeration – Lastly, medical facilities must have a plan in place in the event of emergencies. A facility utilising walk-in cold rooms will likely have access to backup power in the event the mains go out. When the facility is renting temporary refrigeration from a company like ours, we have to constantly be on standby in the unlikely event that our trailer or walk-in room fails. Medical supplies are too sensitive to not be prepared for emergencies.

Icecool Trailers provides temporary refrigeration for a variety of needs throughout London and nearly all of England. We have both trailers and walk-in rooms ready to be delivered and set up on your site at a moment's notice. Please call us for two-hour emergency service in London and, whenever possible, same-day service in the remainder of our service area.

All of our temporary refrigeration units are maintained by our in-house technicians and backed by our 24-hour call-out service. Whether you need temporary refrigeration for an emergency or planned event, Icecool Trailers has both the equipment and service you are looking for.

Got questions? Call 01635 250 950 or send us a message