On February 15th the Richland Source published an article covering DECA Manufacturing's work to support COVID relief efforts. This work included manufacturing
temperature monitoring systems for vaccine storage freezers
the electronics for full-body hazmat suits for hospital ICU staff.
Like many companies 2020 was a challenging year and Cameron appreciates the opportunities that arose during 2020. He is thankful for our great customers and wonderful employees.
Read the article about DECA Manufacturing and its COVID relief work on the Richland site: Lexington electronics company contributing to COVID-19 vaccine storage
Learn more about vaccine logistics and IOT by reading below.
One of the more important logistical aspects of the COVID 19 vaccine rollout is the fact that the vaccines are shipped frozen and have to be kept cold until they are administered. Cold-chain pharmaceuticals have specific temperature maintenance and transportation requirements. Given the vital nature of these materials a monitoring system is vital! When medical facilities are as busy as they currently are, a pharmaceutical, cold storage system offers the following benefits:
accurate temperature monitoring
alert and notification mechanism to highlight any temperature fluctuations
ability to be installed in a different refrigeration and freezer systems
Vaccine Storage Temperature Monitoring System
Just before the pandemic started, DECA manufactured a vaccine storage temperature monitoring system specifically for use in safely storing vaccines at scale in pharmaceutical and laboratory cold storage equipment (refrigerators). Our product consisted of a wire harness that handled both power and data, a PC board, and wifi transmitter. This integrated system serves as the base for an IOT remote temperature monitoring system. It is used in the cold-storage environments where vaccines, pharmaceuticals, biologics, and other sensitive samples and medicines are stored. The system is scalable to include many refrigerator and freezer units and will also warn staff when temperature changes or equipment failures occur. Constant monitoring is crucial not only to ensure these materials are viable but also provide a warning should they need to be moved and/or rescued.
IOT Monitoring Supports Staff and Efficiency
When hospitals are dealing staff shortages or high-volume activity due to health emergencies like the pandemic an IOT/centralized monitoring system assures a high level of efficiency because staff don’t have to check units individually by going to each refrigerator or freezer; staff can check multiple units at a single interface point. An IOT- based monitoring system will also limit staff interaction with surfaces in the work environment.
Logistics of Vaccine Transportation and Storage
Monitoring storage temperatures of pharmaceutical material becomes even more relevant when one considers that the first vaccine approved, by Pfizer needed to be transported at ultra-cold temperatures, -94F! If it thaws and warms up enough. If it warms up it will not be viable. While the Moderna vaccine is also shipped frozen and needs to be kept between -58 and -5, this is more in range with other common vaccines such as Varicella and MMRC. Once any of these vaccines are thawed, they still need to be kept cold, most require temperatures of between +35.6F and -+46.4F.