With Memorial Day weekend on us, many consider it the “unofficial kick off to summer” and there’s no better time than now to start preparing for summer power outages and making sure your vaccine inventory is safe.

During hot weather months, the heavy use of air conditioners places greater stresses onto the already overloaded electric grid system, transformers and other equipment used to deliver electricity. This sustained electric demand during periods of higher nighttime temperatures, do not allow transformers enough time to properly cool, which causes them to overheat, thus contributing to a “brown out”.  

Did you know? Across the nation, thunderstorms are the number one cause of power outages. More accurately, it is the lightning and wind bursts that accompany a thunderstorm that usually cause the outages.  Another contributor to power outages during the summertime happen every day; but heighten in the warmer months are motor vehicles accidents involving telephone and utility poles. The increased traffic amplifies the likelihood of accidents and subsequently power outages.  

While none of us can control nature nor our desire to stay comfortable in air-conditioned homes and offices, or take vacations during the summer months, we can take preventative steps to ensure the thousands of dollars of refrigerated vaccines are preserved and protected during increased power outages. Not only are lives at stake, but hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost each year due to brownouts and power outages.

If you have purchased either a battery backup or a generator, we strongly encourage you to run the manufactures recommended unit testing (contained in the owner’s manual).  You should also be sure that you are not relying on expired batteries (UPS batteries should be replaced every four-years). Check the batteries expiration dates.

Here are couple tips to keep your refrigerated vaccines safe during a power outage.

• Avoid opening the refrigerator and freezer doors. This will keep prevent temperature loss also conserve power if have  a refrigerator/freezer battery backup system.
• Installing a battery backup not only will support your appliance thru a power outage as well as protect your appliance from power spikes and brownouts.

• Have a plan in place to move the vaccines to another location during extended outages
• Install an alarm system that alerts you if the power is lost in your building.

And, if you’re just exploring the idea of a battery powered backup system for your refrigerated vaccines or freezers, have a look around this website learn more about our unique customizable refrigerator and freezer battery backup systems.

Learn More About Battery Backup Power

To answer even more of your questions and find additional solutions to problems that could affect your medical facility or laboratory, check out these other articles from the Medi-Products blog and the Medi-Products Learning Center:

California Wildfires and Power Outages

What You Need to Know About Cold Chain Management Requirements

How Much Power Do I Need to Meet Accreditation Standards?