Round Afghanistan with a fridge

Wild, G. and Anderson, Declan and Lund, P. (2013) Round Afghanistan with a fridge. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 159 (1). pp. 24-29. ISSN 00358665 (ISSN)

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Abstract

Introduction This paper covers the contemporary deployment of blood products in the pre-hospital environment during extended field operations in Afghanistan. The equipment used was standard-issue to the British Armed Forces but used in a novel manner. The aim of this paper was to establish the reliability of the RCB42P blood bank and the concept of blood storage in the field during protracted vehicle-borne patrols. Method TempIT tag data was collected for five patrols and analysed. Ambient temperatures varied immensely from minus 5°C to plus 50°C. Mitigation measures were introduced to reduce the exposure of the blood bank to radiated and ambient heat. Results The blood bank is affected by radiated heat from the engine compartment on long journeys coupled with high ambient temperatures. However, this can be minimised by simple mitigation measures using insulation and passive cooling. Conclusions The RCB42P blood bank is a robust unit capable of enduring a considerable amount of physical abuse and extremes of temperature. It is suitable for the storage of blood products on protracted vehicle-borne patrols in high ambient temperatures if the mitigation measures outlined are employed.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1136/jramc-2013-000013
Dates:	Date Event March 2013 Published
Subjects:	CAH02 - subjects allied to medicine > CAH02-05 - medical sciences > CAH02-05-01 - medical technology
Divisions:	Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences > College of Nursing and Midwifery
Depositing User:	Hussen Farooq
Date Deposited:	25 Feb 2017 07:19
Last Modified:	12 Jan 2022 11:28
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/2706

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