Remote Temperature Monitoring System Protects Blood Supplies In Dorset

A sophisticated electronic monitoring system, believed to be the first system of its kind in any UK blood storage facility, is being used to ensure the integrity of blood supplies within the West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust. Based on a number of Eurotherm 5100V Data Acquisition Units (DAQs), the system remotely monitors blood storage temperature and usage at a number of blood banks operated by the Trust in the West Dorset area.

Designed and engineered by Bridport based data monitoring specialists Preset Calibration Services Limited, the system uses four 5100V DAQs to monitor low temperature storage facilities at the Dorset County Hospital at Dorchester, as well as two satellite banks at Trust hospitals in Sherborne and Blandford.

Two of the instruments are used to monitor storage temperatures at the main blood bank in the Pathology Department at Dorchester, as well as a secondary blood bank on one of the hospital wards. Alarm outputs from both DAQs are connected directly to the hospital alarm ring main circuits. The use of Eurotherm proprietary Bridge 5000 remote viewing software allows authorised hospital staff to view either of the instruments at any time, from any designated computer in the hospital via the local intranet.

In addition, all recorded data is uploaded once daily to the hospital’s central Server computer using the same data network.

The main blood bank, situated in the Pathology department, is monitored using a single 5100v 12 Channel DAQ. Two channels are used to monitor stored blood temperature and also the air temperature in the storage fridge. The remaining ten channels are used to monitor other fridges and freezers throughout the department. The hospital’s secondary (ward based) blood bank is also monitored, using a separate six-channel 5100v DAQ unit in which two active channels are used to monitor blood and air temperatures within the blood storage cabinet. Temperature records from the blood banks are automatically up loaded to the Hospital’s FTP Server each day at midnight.