# Drug Cooler



## lightsandsirens5 (Jan 14, 2016)

Hey folks,

What do you use to secure your cooler meds? Looking for a new system. Right now we have a safe with the non-cooler drugs, and in that safe we keep a key for a small lock on a latch that's screwed into the lid of a portable powered cooler. 

Looking for something that'll eliminate the need for two separate secure containers, if possible. 

Thanks!


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## TransportJockey (Jan 14, 2016)

http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Quart...52797536&sr=8-1&keywords=coleman+refrigerator

We use something like this with a hasp and lock on it. 
When I was with my last service, we used a locking clear plastic box in a minifridge mounted on the floor by the curbside box door.


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## Underoath87 (Jan 14, 2016)

What do you keep in the fridge that needs to be locked up?  
We have unlocked fridges with fluids, succinylcholine, and Cardizem.


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## chaz90 (Jan 14, 2016)

Perhaps Ativan?


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## TransportJockey (Jan 14, 2016)

Underoath87 said:


> What do you keep in the fridge that needs to be locked up?
> We have unlocked fridges with fluids, succinylcholine, and Cardizem.


Ativan. And we like to keep our paralytics locked too. Plus so we don't need two fridges since we carry cold fluid, racemic epi and dilt as well


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## Underoath87 (Jan 14, 2016)

TransportJockey said:


> Ativan. And we like to keep our paralytics locked too. Plus so we don't need two fridges since we carry cold fluid, racemic epi and dilt as well



Hmm, I didn't know that racemic epi required refrigeration.  Strange that d-epi does, as l-epi obviously doesn't.


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## TransportJockey (Jan 14, 2016)

That's what i thought, but the mfg states it must be kept refrigerated. Not 100% sure why either


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## Tigger (Jan 14, 2016)

TransportJockey said:


> That's what i thought, but the mfg states it must be kept refrigerated. Not 100% sure why either


Not so much refrigerated, but must be kept reasonably cool. We keep ours in the fridge as well. 

We have RV fridges in the new ambulances, I suppose you could padlock them.


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## COmedic17 (Jan 15, 2016)

We have some meds and saline bags in a mini fridge/cooler in each truck....I also store my lunch in there. Classy, I know.


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## Tigger (Jan 15, 2016)

COmedic17 said:


> We have some meds and saline bags in a mini fridge/cooler in each truck....I also store my lunch in there. Classy, I know.


One of our shorelines tripped the other day leaving a backup rig with no power for several days. Opened the fridge to pitch the cold meds that got warm, found a moldy hospital sandwich.


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## chaz90 (Jan 15, 2016)

COmedic17 said:


> We have some meds and saline bags in a mini fridge/cooler in each truck....I also store my lunch in there. Classy, I know.


Clearly our fluid warmer is for keeping pizza warm and our cooler for keeping ice cream frozen. That's always been my assumption at least.


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## NomadicMedic (Jan 15, 2016)

Mini fridge with a small combo lock. Inside is a small plastic tackle box with vials. 

And usually a can of Sierra Mist.


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## Carlos Danger (Jan 15, 2016)

Tigger said:


> One of our shorelines tripped the other day leaving a backup rig with no power for several days. Opened the fridge to pitch the cold meds that got warm, found a moldy hospital sandwich.



Where I work, lunch is bought for the staff and left in the break room every day. Sometimes we get sandwiches from Subway or Panera bread. One of the OR nurses I work with will take a couple of these sandwiches at a time and stash them in his locker to eat later. Days later.

It's not uncommon to see him pull a partially eaten sandwich out of his locker, take a bite or two, wrap it back up, and put it back in his locker. Even if it's been 4 or 5 days since we had sandwiches for lunch.


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## Carlos Danger (Jan 15, 2016)

If it hasn't already been done, it might be worthwhile for someone at your service to crunch the numbers to see if it's even worth the cost of keeping the drugs cool vs. simply replacing them regularly. Sux, for instance, is only like 99 cents a vial. So if you occasionally have to throw a few vials away because they didn't get used in the two week (or 4 week, or 60 day - I've seen them all) window, it's not a big deal. Cardizem and rocuronium cost a lot more than sux, but if you use them regularly you might find that it costs less to occasionally toss a drug than it does to keep them cool.


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## Tigger (Jan 15, 2016)

Remi said:


> Where I work, lunch is bought for the staff and left in the break room every day. Sometimes we get sandwiches from Subway or Panera bread. One of the OR nurses I work with will take a couple of these sandwiches at a time and stash them in his locker to eat later. Days later.
> 
> It's not uncommon to see him pull a partially eaten sandwich out of his locker, take a bite or two, wrap it back up, and put it back in his locker. Even if it's been 4 or 5 days since we had sandwiches for lunch.


Bleh. 

Also, fridges are nice for "rehab," as in there is always a gatorade or bottle water when you need it.


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## meatanchor (Jan 30, 2016)

There are some very nice 12V compressor fridges on the market these days.  They actually cool things down like a real home 'fridge, and they draw very little power. They are popular with off-roaders and long-haul truck drivers. Check out:

http://www.truckfridge.com

There's no reason that a small DEA safe wouldn't fit inside any of these.


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## cruiseforever (Jan 30, 2016)

Remi said:


> If it hasn't already been done, it might be worthwhile for someone at your service to crunch the numbers to see if it's even worth the cost of keeping the drugs cool vs. simply replacing them regularly. Sux, for instance, is only like 99 cents a vial. So if you occasionally have to throw a few vials away because they didn't get used in the two week (or 4 week, or 60 day - I've seen them all) window, it's not a big deal. Cardizem and rocuronium cost a lot more than sux, but if you use them regularly you might find that it costs less to occasionally toss a drug than it does to keep them cool.



We replace the sux every 60 days.


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