Farr & Pursey - Accurate temperature monitoring for vet meds on the move

Transporting medicines outside veterinary practices risks exposing temperature controlled product to extremes of heat and cold, which can reduce their efficacy. Equine specialists Farr & Pursey have opted for the RemoteM mobile system to ensure that medicines and vaccines are administered in perfect condition for optimal clinical outcomes.

This forward-thinking practice provides a largely ambulatory service, with significant stocks of medicines and vaccines stored in car fridges and potentially subject to fluctuations in temperature. In line with RCVS requirements, the vets were taking temperature readings twice daily and recording these; a time consuming process which can be subject to human error.

Cars can get extremely hot in summer and conversely very cold in winter. Farr & Pursey’s team of vets were already using temperature monitored veterinary fridges at the practice, but the nature of their service is that medicines and vaccines are routinely carried in car fridges in cars. The practice needed an ultimately reliable method for monitoring the temperatures of these in-car fridges automatically so the vets could be confident of administering products in optimum condition.

Farr & Pursey began by searching the market for a suitable mobile solution. Alongside professional commitment to quality and matching and exceeding RCVS guidelines, the opportunity to reduce the administrative workload was also a significant consideration. After a busy day on the road, the vets wanted a system where data could be transferred automatically on return to the practice without spending lengthy time on paperwork.

Standard commercially available solutions involving recording temperature on data loggers are time consuming and reliant on a member of staff having access to the vehicles or storage containers on a daily basis. RemoteM’s mobile solution provided the answer.

The system is based on RemoteM’s tried and tested fridge monitoring system, and involves placing a base station at the practice premises plus additional nodes in vehicles to log temperatures, collecting readings at regular intervals throughout the day. These readings then upload automatically when the vehicle returns to the surgery and comes into range. Data can be downloaded easily for reporting in line with RCVS compliance.

For those working outside their surgeries for prolonged periods, or requiring more detailed temperature monitoring, RemoteM also offers a ‘real time’ in transit monitoring solution, involving an in-vehicle battery-powered base station and temperature monitoring nodes. Subject to cellular coverage (now over 95% of the UK landmass) this product uploads temperature storage data to the cloud regularly over each 24 hour period.

“As an ambulatory practice, it is our responsibility to monitor and manage the storage of our veterinary medicines and vaccines to ensure the best possible outcomes,” stated Rick Farr. “Previously, temperature monitoring on the move was a difficult and time consuming issue. RemoteM have provided us with an efficient, reliable and affordable solution which takes minimal time to set up and administer, allowing us to get on with doing our job in the knowledge that all our medicines and vaccines are in prime condition at the point of use.”

Rick has also been extremely impressed with the simplicity of the RemoteM mobile system. “It’s definitely ‘plug and play’,” he confirmed. “We set it up then let it run. We have barely thought about the nodes, we just check in on the readings regularly to ensure that everything is within range. Like most busy vets, temperature logging wasn’t always at the top of our list, and now it doesn’t need to be, we can be confident that we achieve the gold standard in terms of storage.”

Farr & Pursey Equine also use the RemoteM system in ambient storage areas within the practice to ensure medicines and vaccines not requiring refrigeration are kept in prime condition, achieving temperature logging right across the board.