Protecting Your Biologics During Extended Power Outages

In 2014, when I was issued my first at-home biologic injection, it was smack-dab in the middle of hurricane season and summer. I was concerned about our refrigerator losing power and my not knowing about it. I was also concerned that it wasn’t maintaining proper temperature, as it was older and making threatening noises since we had moved into the home a year prior. Then the rolling power outages came. They were sometimes accompanied by longer blackouts. Every time the power would surge back on the fridge would groan in protest. My concern grew. When the first tropical storm of the season formed in the Gulf of Mexico, my concern amplified.

I set out on trying to get some answers about how to keep my medication safe during an event like a hurricane. Here’s what I learned from speaking with the pharmacist of my local pharmacy.

Step 1: Tracking the temperature of your refrigerator

Go to your favorite shopping website and look for portable refrigeration thermometers. There are manual and digital ones. I purchased a manual set just like the one my doctor’s office uses in their med fridge. It’s very easy to read and gives you a temperature range in numbers, as well as a graphic displaying a block for refrigeration and one for freezing.

This also helped me track which parts of the fridge were colder than others. A good example of a colder part of the fridge is when you take a beverage and put it in the back and you find ice formed in it or it completely froze over. I certainly did not want my medication freezing; that happened a year later while at Digestive Disease Week conference, but that’s a story for a different day.

Digital thermometers are even easier to find today, than in comparison to 2014. There are thermometers that beam readings to a standalone unit outside of your fridge so you don’t have to open a door to view it. There are units that you can track via an app on your smartphone or tablet, and some of these digital units also have alarms to alert you when a temperature change takes place.

Step 2: Tips for recognizing temperature changes

I call this tip from the pharmacist, “Fun with science.” Take a cup (I prefer clear ones for this) and fill it halfway with water. Then, place it in the freezer. Check on it in an hour or two. Make sure the water has frozen solid inside of the cup. Once you’ve confirmed the water has turned to ice, stick an object on top of the ice in your cup. The pharmacist’s example used a penny, but any small object will do.

Whenever you open the freezer, your penny should be resting atop its ice cube throne. However, if you open the freezer and find that your penny or object is no longer sitting atop of its frozen throne and is now sleeping at the bottom of the cup, the freezer has at one point experienced a complete thaw. This means that everything inside of it has most likely thawed out and then refroze when the temperature dropped again. This also may mean your refrigerator is having issues maintaining temperature.

Step 3: Working with your pharmacy or doctor's office

Discuss with your specialty pharmacy if they have an emergency plan regarding medications affected due to blackout, natural disasters, and evacuations. They may also have a partnership with some brick and mortar pharmacies that have backup generators. This means the med fridges should remain safe. Ask if you can have your medication shipped there and pick it up when you’re ready to use it.

You should also ask your doctor’s office if the med can be delivered and stored in their med fridge. Remember to ask if they have a generator to keep things safe in case of an emergency.

Step 4: Using dry ice

Dry ice. You can keep the contents of your fridge and freezer cool when the power goes down by using dry ice. That being said, the vendor’s website should have directions regarding temperatures and safety precautions for handling. Our local grocery stores have sold dry ice going on a couple of years now, if yours does not have a freezer, talk to the store manager as they may know of a vending site.

Step 5: Rinse, lather, and repeat

Now that I have a new specialty pharmacy company that does everything through mail order, I’m formulating my hurricane plan for refrigerated meds for myself and mother-in-law. First, I’m going to try to estimate my med delivery dates based on current dosing. Then, I’ll call the specialty pharmacy to ask if they have a plan in place and go from there.

Have you lost medication due to an extended power outage?