Blood products must be stored within specific temperature ranges to safeguard their integrity and maintain regulatory compliance. AABB Standards provide the requirements for storage, transportation, and expiration of various blood products.
According to Standards, blood storage devices should have the capacity and design to ensure that the proper temperature is maintained. In addition, the storage temperatures of refrigerators, freezers, and platelet incubators must be monitored.
The i.C3® Information Center is integrated into Helmer Scientific's i.Series® Blood Bank Refrigerators, Plasma Freezers, and Pro Line Countertop Platelet Incubators. It continuously monitors the temperature inside the storage device and enables users to check the status of the unit with a quick glance at the home screen.
The i.C3® includes an Event Log that helps support compliance. The Event Log displays information on any alarm conditions that may have occurred. Selecting an event from the log provides users with detailed information on that event.
The Event Log also includes event acknowledgement functionality, which enables users to record the cause of an alarm and the corrective action taken. This record is captured along with a signature, date, and timestamp.
The Event Log can be downloaded, providing documentation of alarm events and corrective actions.
AABB and the College of American Pathologists (CAP) both state storage temperatures must be monitored and recorded. In addition, the CAP Transfusion Medicine checklist includes requirements for storage unit alarms.
Regarding alarm checks, CAP Transfusion Medicine Checklist TRM.42750 asks facilities to compare the temperature at which the alarm activates to the recorded temperature. TRM.42750 includes electronic records and event logs as acceptable for this purpose (in addition to paper recording charts or graphs).
The i.C3® Event Log can be downloaded from the i.C3® via USB in a convenient PDF report format as well as a CSV data file. This provides an electronic record that supports compliance with TRM.42750 requirements for storage unit alarms.
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The i.C3® Information Center is an integral part of i.Series® Blood Bank Refrigerators, Plasma Freezers, and Pro Line Countertop Platelet Incubators. It provides critical functionality and supports blood banks in their efforts to achieve regulatory compliance. A series of videos has been created to demonstrate the features of the i.C3®.
