Environmental controls protect blood supply

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The Indiana Blood Center , a non-profit agency that collects and distributes blood and blood components throughout Indiana, is taking steps to ensure its blood and platelet supplies are stored according to FDA 21 CFR Part 11. They have selected Trane to update its FDA monitoring system at seven remote sites and the main headquarters in downtown Indianapolis. Trane is implementing its Tracer Summit critical control system building automation system with completion of the work this summer.

'More than 40 hospitals throughout Central and Southern Indiana depend on our blood and platelet supply,' says Tony Filis, director of plant services at Indiana Blood Center. 'It is crucial that our facilities and storage areas are monitored and maintained 24/7 in every aspect.'

Trane's Tracer Summit critical control system will track and control the environment and monitor the refrigerators and freezers at all eight locations. Because of the highly sensitive storage requirements of blood platelets, Trane has embedded custom temperature monitoring devices in with the platelet supply to ensure that they are kept at the correct, constant temperature and to monitor the movement of the agitators. Monitoring and alarming of the remote sites is being done by workstations located at the main headquarters via communication over the Indiana Blood Center's existing wide area network.

The Indiana Blood Center is an independent, non-profit agency through which lifesaving blood and blood components are supplied to 46 member hospitals throughout central and southern Indiana. IBC also provides related services including specialized blood typing for organ transplants, viral marker testing, tissue banks, and the National Marrow Donor Program.

Search CFR Part 11 atop www.controleng.com for related articles.

--Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Peter Welander , process industries editor