Temperature monitoring of pharmacy fridges is of utmost importance for several reasons including medication safety, regulatory compliance, patient health, product shelf life and early detection of issues with the fridge. Because a variance in temperature is often the first sign that a fridge may be developing a fault Labcold vaccine fridges are fitted with an IntelliCold controller that records the temperature 24/7. This data can be transferred to a PC via an SD card for analysis. Like most other makes they also have a min/max temperature display which can simply be pressed to show the temperature. At HCE we always advise paying close attention to fridge readings and having a robust protocol is in place to ensure that safety is maintained at all times. Calibration is always required to ensure the temperature reading is accurate, this is why the Green Book now has yearly calibration as a guideline.

Labcold Fridge Front Panel Display

The display on the front of the refrigerator is designed to constantly show the temperature inside the fridge correct to one decimal place. Should you have any issues with the setup or maintaining this device please contact Labcold directly as their team will be able to offer full technical support.

High/Low Temperature Alarm

If the temperature in your refrigerator rises above 8oC an alarm will sound and the front panel will flash Hi and the current temperature inside the fridge. This information will display alternately. The cause of the rise in temperature should be investigated immediately. Usually, it is simply because the door has been open for a long time or the fridge has been restocked, however, it is recommended that you check the fridge to make sure that the temperature is returning to normal.

If the temperature in your refrigerator drops below 2oC an alarm will sound and the front panel will alternately flash between Lo and the chamber temperature. There could be a number of reasons for this, such as extremely cold items being placed in the fridge. The cause of the drop in temperature should be investigated immediately and the refrigerator should be monitored to check that it is returning to the correct temperature.

Min/Max Temperature Recording

The DH Green Book Chapter 3 recommends that: ‘temperatures in the refrigerator must be monitored and recorded at least once each working day, and documented on a chart for recording temperatures’. Your Labcold pharmacy refrigerator records the maximum high and minimum low temperatures when connected to mains electricity (if batteries are fi tted, it will record when not connected). This information is stored until the fridge is reset.

This information can be accessed if you press the ‘Hi/Lo’ button and release. The display will show Hi and then the highest temperature recorded since the last reset, then Lo and display the lowest temperature.

Min/Max Temperature Reset

Once you have taken the temperatures for the day it is important that you reset the fridge. This is because the refrigerator will always display the high and low temperature since the last temperature reset. The refrigerator does not automatically reset.

To reset the minimum/maximum temperature press the ‘Hi/Lo’ button and hold. An alarm will sound and the current high and low temperatures will be displayed as above. Keeping your fi nger on the button, the display will then change to fl ash Hi Lo then revert to normal operation. This means you have successfully reset the minimum/maximum temperature display and the previous high and low temperatures have been deleted.