Can a regular refrigerator be used as a medical refrigerator?
Jeson - July 19, 2024Due to some physical reasons, people have to take some medicines frequently. Some medicines that are frequently taken need to be kept at a certain low temperature for a long time. These medicines need to be refrigerated, but can they also be stored in a regular refrigerator at home? I tried to find the answer online. Professional medical refrigerators have temperature control between 2-8 ℃ and have some safety functions to ensure that your medicines are not damaged. What do you think?
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Comments (1)
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Eric
Yes, it’s very common for refrigerated home medications to be kept in a regular refrigerator at home. Make sure to keep them clean and dry, perhaps by putting them in a ziplock bag before putting them in the refrigerator.
Your specific medication should come with storage instructions, including the range of acceptable temperatures. Most likely there is a broad range of temperatures that you can easily meet with a regular refrigerator. Just make sure to double-check this.
The other common complications are power outages or traveling/evacuating. Just like any foods you have in the refrigerator, medications can spoil if the refrigerator warms up. For a short power outage, you can just keep the refrigerator closed to avoid letting heat in. For longer outages, you may need to switch to coolers with cold packs.
For traveling you can use a cooler with cold packs. I would not use loose ice, because when it melts the water could wet/contaminate your medications. Here is a product specifically designed for keeping medications cold while traveling – “Portable Insulin Cooler Travel Case, Insulated Diabetic Bag with 2 x 160g Ice Packs for 6-8h Cooling Time”.
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Eric
