Monitoring temp and humidity
9 followers
0 Likes
Hello all - Do you monitor your temps and humidity for POC supplies? if so, how - what monitors are you using? Do you have a procedure for excursions?
I'm asking because in the clinic where I work we have been monitoring since around last May. It's not inpatient at all, but many of our providers want to be able to use POC tests. I don't have an area big enough to store supplies, so the users monitor their own supplies. We are using Fisher Healthcare digital ambient temp/humidity monitors that are calibrated and NIST traceable.
Yesterday I had reports from 3 different locations (3 different buildings) that they were getting humidity alarms. After looking into it, at my main building every testing area but 1 had had a low humidity excursion event the night before or early in the morning (9 floors). Facilities maintenance is trying to say it is the monitors malfunctioning - I find it hard to believe that they would all fail on the same day in the same way. They finally lowered the building temperature and that seemed to help, but I have a couple of older buildings that still aren't in range and so can't test patient samples (this includes our Acute Resp Center where we send all of our potential covid patients for rapid testing on ID NOW).
Does your facility monitor? What monitor do you use? Who does the monitoring and what is the process if temp or humidity is out of range?
Thank you - sorry this got long,
Jill
I'm asking because in the clinic where I work we have been monitoring since around last May. It's not inpatient at all, but many of our providers want to be able to use POC tests. I don't have an area big enough to store supplies, so the users monitor their own supplies. We are using Fisher Healthcare digital ambient temp/humidity monitors that are calibrated and NIST traceable.
Yesterday I had reports from 3 different locations (3 different buildings) that they were getting humidity alarms. After looking into it, at my main building every testing area but 1 had had a low humidity excursion event the night before or early in the morning (9 floors). Facilities maintenance is trying to say it is the monitors malfunctioning - I find it hard to believe that they would all fail on the same day in the same way. They finally lowered the building temperature and that seemed to help, but I have a couple of older buildings that still aren't in range and so can't test patient samples (this includes our Acute Resp Center where we send all of our potential covid patients for rapid testing on ID NOW).
Does your facility monitor? What monitor do you use? Who does the monitoring and what is the process if temp or humidity is out of range?
Thank you - sorry this got long,
Jill
5 Replies
Reply
Subgroup Membership is required to post Replies
Join POCT Listserv now
Suggested Posts
| Topic | Replies | Likes | Views | Participants | Last Reply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iSTAT in NICU -chem 8, CG4 | 6 | 0 | 274 | ||
| Rotem Sigma Validation Help | 1 | 0 | 107 | ||
| Hemochron Sig Elite use outside of manufacturer temperature range | 2 | 0 | 177 |
I am a former POCC and now I'm a lab consultant. I have labs that use all kinds of monitors. Sometimes in the colder months we do have humidity issues. I have some labs that use humidifiers to help if the area isn't too large or open. Our policy is to test QC prior to running patients if the humidity is out of range. I hope this helps!
Erika
We have a similar practice as Erika's, however we use Sensoscientific. We have had this system since 2014, all the data is store on a cloud and staff gets notified via their preference (phone call, fax, text, etc). In your case, we would try to to troubleshoot and place any spare monitors or a downtime NIST traceable thermometer to observe for a few days and watch for fluctuations. Some other items for thought: How large were the excursions? Did the graphs look like a gradual change in humidity? How has the sensor performed in the last 60 days?
Mahalo,
Shana