Objective: to determine the efficacy of electronic cold-control portable fridges at a fixed temperature commonly used in emergency units outside the hospital setting for cold-chain preservation of thermolabile drugs. Additionally, the introduction of ice on hot days as a procedure to improve results was also studied.
Material and methods: an analytical longitudinal study was carried out using a quasiexperimental component in two ambulances in the province of Teruel. The daily maximum and minimum temperatures inside the fridge were recorded one a day for one full year. One of the fridges was kept on permanently throughout the entire year and the other fridge was complemented by adding cold accumulators, depending on the room temperature (random allocation was not used).Results: in the Monreal unit (permanently switched on fridge), the temperatures recorded were between 24 and -8ºC, whilst in the Alcañiz unit (fridge with cold accumulators) the temperatures recorded ranged between 17 and -12ºC, remaining for 336 and 335 out of range, respectively. The temperatures outside the safety range in the preservation cold chain in the Tecneplase, were 167 days for the Alcañiz unit and 88 for the Monreal unit.
Conclusions: the fridges used were not effective and the drugs were subjected to temperatures outside the safety range. Neither of the two methods used was considered to be effective.