Travelling With Chilled Medication.

[Bigbad]

Family holiday in a few weeks.
My daughter has to inject herself fortnightly with medication that needs to be kept cold.
I am trying to find something that will do this, but all I can find are insulated bags that you use with frozen gel packs.
Not keen on this idea, as I think that as soon as the gel packs come out of the freezer, they will begin to warm up, and although the airline will probably be able to refrigerate or supply ice, this will mean several fluctuations in temperature before reaching our destination, and even without delays, this could be around 16 hours.
The medication is supposed to be keep refrigerated at all times, and only come out of the fridge 10 minutes before use.
Anyone know of an alternative to ice packs in a bag?
Thanks.

[Mamyalynne]

Just done some quick research and you're right they do mostly have gel/ice packs, otherwise they would need some power source to maintain the cold I suppose.

Is there a forum or help group for her condition? People there may advise or possibly her pharmacist.

[Bigbad]

Yes, Mamyalynne. I was hoping for a power source-type one. Battery would be good.
I have looked at a few forums. Some say gel packs worked fine, others say medication was cloudy after a much shorter travelling time.
Cloudy medication should not be used.

[Mamyalynne]

Is there a helpline number to call on the medication itself?

[Bigbad]

My daughter says she will phone the relevant person at the hospital, but she needs a strategically placed stick of dynamite sometimes, so meantime I thought I would try here!

[ethandron]

Have you looked at FRIO uk, they have a number of products which may do the job.

[MargoTester]

Suggest you also Google NHS Choices - can I take my medice abroad, a lot of information there. (Sorry can't do links on my I pad)

[MargoTester]

^ medicine

[Eve]

Does she have a homecare team? I have weekly injections which need to be kept in the fridge though I've never travelled with them.

They are couriered out to me and although the van isn't refrigerated they have these cool packs in with them and a must deliver by time so I'm not sure they have that long of a usage.

She could check with them if so or specialist nurses/team as I'm sure they must have come across this before. How long is she gone for, could the medication be scheduled around it any how?

The airline might also be able to help, if they have refrigeration facilities on board and could use a cold pack to go then see if they can freeze the pack ready to cool for them to get to their destination. Full of water though so would maybe need clearance to get them on

[Mamyalynne]

Link for info as mentioned by Ethandron


http://www.friouk.com/

[Mamyalynne]

Link for info as mentioned by Margo

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1074.aspx?CategoryID=70

[Bigbad]

Thanks ethandron and Mamyalynne for the FRIO answers. Have had a quick look, and will investigate further later on.

Eve. She doesn’t have a homecare team, but medication is delivered in a refrigerated van, and someone needs to be home to take delivery so that it can go in the fridge immediately. As I said originally, by the time we get on the plane I’m worried that the medication may have warmed up slightly, and cooling it down again could be a bit risky.

[MargoTester]

Thanks for that Mamya- I'll have to get my son to show me how it's done on the iPad

[ethandron]

If it's for crohns/colitis meds, have a look at crohnsforum.com, if you haven't already, they may have some suggestions. If you can't find anything useful by searching, they're very helpful if you join and ask the question, or I can ask for you if you want :)

[Bigbad]

Just read up on the FRIO products. Not cold enough.
Oh well, back to the drawing board!

[Mamyalynne]

Did you try to contact the Medicine Manufacturer ?

Surely this problem must arise for other patients?

[douglas9401]

Is the medication available where you're going on holiday? That would save a lot of bother.

[Eve]

They say my injections are to come in a refrigerated truck though I'm not sure given I received someone door knobs package once instead of my injections!!! Maybe it has a refrigerated section. We both blamed the eclipse (ongoing when delivered) for neither of us noticing until after, had a panicked phone call to the homecare team who arrange delivery to get the right package back!! They come with these cold packs around then in a big insulated box.

For many conditions I can think of who might need that kind of medication, is there a specialist nursing team who could help? Maybe a helpline like my specialist nurses have. They must have come across this before and would be likely to know the best way round it from a medical point of view.

[Eve]

Sorry, also meant to say she might need to check with the airline if taking any injections in hand luggage, she might need something in writing about to allow then to be taken on, sure something to that effect was mentioned to me when I had an information session on my latest injections.

[bednobs]

i think your absolute best bet is to call the airline

[EDDIE51]

Ice gel packs should be fine for up to 24 hours.
Best idea would have been to set off straight after an injection and then you have 2 clear weeks to get back before the next one.