With everything you’re already dealing with, trying to figure out a cold chain temperature range may bring on a headache. You’re probably thinking about whether or not it’s crucial when shipping with a cryogenic courier.
More importantly, you’re wondering about the essential things you need to know about cold chain temperature range and how it affects your priceless package. We’re here to break it down for you.
What’s Cold Chain?
A cold chain equates to a temperature-controlled supply chain. From pick up, storage, transportation, and delivery, an effective cold chain should be smooth and uninterrupted. You’ll often hear cold chain talked about in the food and pharmaceutical industry. Still, it’s equally vital when shipping cryogenic specimens.
From here, the cold chain temperature range enters the picture. To successfully transport various specimens, the recommended temperature, often 2°C to 8°C, must be maintained throughout its journey, no matter the shipment’s distance. Reproductive tissues such as embryos, sperm or oocytes must be shipped in a cryopreserved state at a temperature between -180°C and -165°C , in order to maintain viability.
What Happens If Cold Chain Temperature Range Isn’t Maintained?
Safely stored specimens can tolerate slight shifts in temperature for a couple of days. Still, when a cold chain temperature range fails, two extreme events can happen – freezing or overheating, which leads to the thawing of the specimen. If this happens, your sample becomes unusable, and your money and effort go down the drain.
How Does Cryo Courier Maintain Cold Chain Temperature Range?
We can’t speak for other medical couriers, but we can tell you how we do things. In Pearl’s Cryo Courier, we know how invaluable your packages are and strive to handle them with utmost care.
When transporting embryos, sperm or oocytes from one facility to another, they must be shipped in a cryopreserved state at very low temperature in order to maintain viability of the tissue. These biological tissues must be maintained at a temperature between -180°C and -165°C . To ensure this temperature is maintained, special shipping containers are used to hold liquid nitrogen vapors during the transportation process. When fully charged and kept upright, these shippers can maintain the temperature between -180°C and -165°C for about 5 days.
For other specimens, we maintain the cold chain temperature range using clinical-grade or pharmacy refrigerators. Pharmacy refrigerators differ from regular refrigerators. They have wire shelves and compartments for improved circulation. Their doors also possess shelves for storing samples.
More importantly, clinical-grade refrigerators can maintain temperatures better than standard refrigerators. When you’re shipping cryogenic specimens, make sure you ask your potential couriers about their refrigerators or how they keep a cold chain temperature range.
Remember, medical couriers that transfer priceless packages like yours need to possess proper cold chain regulations in place. They also need to guarantee that your specimens will safely travel on a stable cold chain temperature range.
What Else Should You Expect About Cold Chain?
The cold chain is the sum of its parts. These parts are trained and attentive personnel, temperature-controlled transport, temperature-controlled storage, and effective operational procedures.
Generally, you can trust couriers who can prove that they can readily handle your package. They should use an excellent cold chain process that ensures proper temperature range. In short, your chosen courier must possess the correct equipment to handle your specimens and trained staff to transport them.
Shipping With Pearl’s Cryo Courier
We understand that you may feel overwhelmed with everything happening around you. We know that needing a medical courier’s services often means you’re already going through a lot, so we strive to provide the best service to all our clients.
When you ship with Cryo Courier, you can enjoy a worry-free experience. We’re prepared for everything a medical courier encounters during transportation. No matter what solution you pick, we ensure all of our clients’ specimens arrive viably and on time.