Transfusions in record time: Croce Verde and ES Frigo together

It is not often that one is called upon by a volunteer organisation for such a delicate and vital mission, especially with only one week’s notice!

Croce Verde Reggio Emilia is a historic voluntary association, active since 1914, that provides essential emergency-urgency services to the Reggio Emilia community. With more than a century of history in the name of assistance and solidarity, Croce Verde has become a true landmark for the city thanks to the tireless efforts of its volunteers.

When they contacted us, they needed help with an entirely new project: Croce Verde had won a tender to manage the special medical transport of blood and plasma, supporting the national health service. Their need was to transport blood and plasma from collection clinics to laboratories, ensuring strict temperature control and optimal safety of the storage conditions. A crucial public health task, which required the utmost reliability and precision.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, they only had one week to do everything, from vehicle selection to final testing! It was a demanding but also exciting challenge that we were looking forward to.

The challenge of the time constraints and vehicles: adapting passenger vehicles

The starting situation was far from easy: Croce Verde had just won a tender and had found three used vehicles at the last minute, originally intended for passenger transport. Our task was to adapt these vehicles, and turn them into perfect tools for the cold chain, ready to ensure the safety of extremely delicate medical products. And all that… in just seven days!

The challenge was not so much to provide the refrigerated boxes – for us this was already a tried and tested technology – but rather the fast adaptation of the vehicles and the customisation required by the project. We must admit that the adrenaline rush of the time constraints was a push to give our best. We tailor-made the isothermal boxes for each of the three different vehicles, to fit them into the available space as well as possible.

Technology in the service of safety: geolocation and remote control

A really interesting aspect of this project was the need to implement geolocation and real-time temperature monitoring. Croce Verde wanted to be able to track not only the location of the vehicles, but also the temperature of the isothermal boxes, to be sure that blood and plasma were always stored in optimal conditions. The stakes were high: the safety of the blood components could not be impaired.

To solve this problem, we relied on our network of suppliers and found a solution that would quickly fit into the boxes, without invasive modifications. We installed an electronic control unit with an integrated SIM card, which is able to send real time data on both the position of the vehicle and the temperature inside the boxes. This system allowed the Green Cross to monitor each transport remotely, ensuring safety and reliability at all times during the journey.

Creative solutions under tight deadlines: teamwork that makes the difference

One of the most important aspects of this project was teamwork. It was not just a matter of fast delivery: during the testing stage, we worked closely with Croce Verde to ensure that everything was in perfect working order and that their requirements were one hundred per cent met. It was an actual co-engineering effort, where our goal was not only to provide a working product, but also to assist the customer at every stage, right up to getting the vehicles on the road.

The installation of our battery-operated refrigerated boxes and the monitoring system allowed Croce Verde to kick the new service off without any setbacks, meeting the community’s health needs safely and accurately. Each vehicle was transformed into a mobile laboratory, capable of ensuring the maintenance of the cold chain throughout transportation.

ES Frigo and Croce Verde: flexibility that makes the difference

This project perfectly embodies what we are about at ES Frigo: we don’t just sell isothermal boxes, we are committed to finding tailor-made solutions, even when the challenges seem insurmountable.

Croce Verde was not a typical customer for us, it was not a company with experience in temperature-controlled transportation, but a volunteer association that was faced with a new challenge. And we were proud to be the partner that made it possible to rise to the occasion.

We approached the project with our trademark mentality: listening, understanding and finding innovative solutions, adapting to the customer’s specific needs. Even when time is short, even when the vehicles are not ideal, what matters is being able to ensure the utmost safety and reliability. And that is exactly what we did.

Conclusions

The collaboration with Croce Verde was an excellent example of how to adapt and solve problems under difficult conditions.

We are proud of this project, not only because we adapted vehicles not conventionally used to transport blood and plasma in record time, but also for being part of a project that has a value for the community.

It was a privilege for us to be able to contribute to such an important cause, putting our technical expertise at the service of the community and showing that the cold chain knows no limits, nor time constraints!