Accurate Blood Storage Stimulates Continuous Improvement
Storage of blood in well-equipped blood bank refrigerator is a demonstration of quality consciousness resulting in safety to the patients. Accurate blood storage in a modern blood bank refrigerator stimulates continuous improvement by periodic checks as stipulated by all regulatory agencies. Opportunity to blood preservation is a bench mark with the best and users/patients/donors become the biggest beneficiary among all stake holders.
Safeguards are required to be implemented to prevent adjustments that would invalidate the calibration setting and therefore, calibrated blood storage refrigerator must have an adequate accuracy with precision. If, professional storage equipment for blood is used, the mandatory documentation with respect to quality data, accessibility to the information becomes restrictive and a record control system where in development, approval, validation, review, revision, and authorization can be done by authorized personnel only.
A blood bank refrigerator must have installation and operational qualification, subsequent to which quality control checks could be performed. Unlike domestic refrigeration systems, a blood storage refrigerator should have all relevant parameters as per the World Health Organization. Guidelines of ensuring quality of stored blood with disruption free usage is the need of the hour. Numeric and graphic temperature records, frequent door opening, power fail, low battery of the display, and control system backed by alarm alerts for temperature deviation from 4-6 degree Celsius will enable to immediately attend to pin point a cause for trouble shooting.
Doors fitted with vacuumed glass doors in blood bank refrigerators prevent temperature integrity, always ensure a perfect storage of blood, and will prevent frequent opening to avoid temperature disturbance of the stored blood. Colour coding of trays for different blood groups meant for storage of blood will be an added advantage for the users to avoid an accidental mix up of stored blood units.
