When you think of emergencies that could compromise your vaccines, what comes to mind? Perhaps it’s a natural disaster, such as a hurricane or tornado, or maybe it’s a power outage that stretches for several hours.
Emergencies vary in severity, but you should plan for any scenarios that could cause your vaccines or other medical supplies to fall out of their recommended temperature range. Cold chain breaks can cause significant disruptions that cost you money and time.
Two critical components of a vaccine emergency preparedness plan are:
- Understanding what emergencies to prepare for
- Knowing the costs of your emergency plan options
This blog post covers both areas to help you develop a plan that meets your needs while fitting your budget.
Types of Emergencies to Consider
1. Threats with advance warning: These are events that are somewhat expected, but there is some time available to react. This could include natural events such as slow-moving storms or hurricanes.
2. Threats without advance warning: These events are not expected and there is no time to react – examples include earthquakes, tornadoes, and quickly moving thunderstorms.
3. Brownouts: Some remote and other locations are susceptible to unreliable power and brownouts that can affect the operation of electronics, including vaccine refrigerators and freezers. In some cases, rolling brownouts can occur due to the electrical supplier mitigating electrical supply or distribution issues.
4. Planned power outages: At times, building maintenance, electrical system updates, or renovations will call for planned power outages. These occasions often happen after hours, but it’s crucial to make sure that vaccines don’t spoil during these outages.
5. Unexpected routine power outages: The average routine power outage lasts less than three hours – local power outages because of glitches in the system, car or construction mishaps impacting infrastructure, and so on are often resolved relatively quickly. However, a downed power pole or utility issues could lead to a prolonged outage.
6. Post-storm outages: After a large storm or weather system, power can be knocked offline, with outages that can last for days without access to the area for vaccine retrieval.
7. Appliance failure/accidental unplugging: Although not caused by emergencies, these scenarios are common causes of vaccine loss.
8. High risk of physical damage to location: There are emergencies with a high risk of physical damage to your premises/vaccines beyond the impacts of power outages. These include floods, fires, or other events that would require moving vaccines from your refrigerator to a safer location.
Breaking Down the Costs of Each Vaccine Emergency Plan Option
Let’s face it: Costs matter, and it’s important for medical professionals to be aware of the initial and long-term investments as well as any hidden costs. Check out this blog post to learn more about the three main equipment options for protecting vaccines in an emergency.
Costs of Using PCM Refrigerators and Freezers
Costs here can be deceiving. Although the price of PCM vaccine refrigerators and freezers is mid-range with respect to medical appliances prices, they also serve a dual purpose.
In addition to being able to maintain their temperature for several days during a power outage, they also maintain exceptional temperature stability to keep vaccines safe during business-as-usual operations. This arguably makes PCM vaccine storage the most cost-effective solution.
Costs of Moving Vaccines
Qualified containers and pack-outs: Medical coolers (also called vaccine carriers) generally have a low-to-medium upfront cost. They don’t require additional packing materials such as bubble wrap and cardboard, avoiding added administration to maintain an inventory of those types of supplies.
Mobile fridges and freezers require a power source and have a medium to high upfront cost.
Standard coolers: Standard hard-sided food and beverage coolers with ice packs are the cheapest option for moving vaccines. Care must be taken to ensure that proper procedures are followed.
Costs of Installing Backup Power
Batteries: These have a medium to high immediate cost for a system to power an appliance, and the runtime varies widely depending on what’s plugged into it (i.e., how much power is being drawn). Additional batteries can be added to keep vaccines safe through longer outages. Over time, battery systems can be expensive when factoring in initial and replacement battery costs.
Generators: The initial cost of generators can vary widely with automatic generators costing more than smaller manual generators. Automatic generators that are installed and automatically engage in the event of a power outage typically cost $10,000+. It’s important to remember that they come with additional costs including fuel, maintenance, and repairs.
Customize an Emergency Preparedness Solution for Your Needs
In a perfect world, it may be best to land on a comprehensive solution that combines vaccine protection options. However, costs can add up fast, and resources aren’t unlimited. This means that the best strategy is often to choose solutions that align with your resources, potential hazards, and needs.
