A Guide to: RTS Cabinets

Many vaccines and medicines require either refrigeration or freezing in order to remain potent, however some medications require “ambient” or “room-temperature” storage conditions.

To meet these specific storage requirements, RTS (Room Temperature Storage) Cabinets are used.

What is an RTS Cabinet?

Unlike medical fridges and medical freezers, which cool down temperature-sensitive healthcare products, RTS cabinets ensure the products within them remain at an ambient temperature, usually between +15°C and +25°C.

Employed by many clinical facilities that require precise room-temperature storage conditions, RTS cabinets offer a cost-effective alternative to air conditioning.

Medicines, drugs, ointments and lotions that don’t require refrigeration are often labelled “store below 25°C.” An RTS cabinet should be used to store these products to ensure they don’t become too warm and to avoid reduced efficacy – especially during the summer months.

RTS cabinets look almost identical to medical fridges, however they won’t be able to reach the low temperatures of a medical fridge or freezer.

Why are RTS Cabinets needed?

All manufacturers of medicines, lotions, ointments and vaccines provide their products with strict storage instructions, and they only guarantee the stability and shelf-lives of their products if their instructions are followed.

With the need to adhere to drug manufacturer’s strict storage guidelines to ensure patient safety, healthcare staff need to know that drugs are being stored accurately. This can’t be achieved by simply storing products in a cupboard due to fluctuating room temperatures caused by heatwaves, faulty air-conditioning or winter chills.

RTS cabinets monitor and maintain accurate internal temperatures of between +15°C and +25°C to comply with drug manufacturers storage recommendations. Accurate storage temperatures ensure products remain potent and can be administered safely to patients.  

Features of RTS Cabinets

Accurate temperature controls

All CoolMed RTS cabinets feature a highly accurate external digital temperature controller and display. The temperature display also has a battery powered back-up, so drug temperatures can still be monitored in the case of an electricity failure.

CoolMed RTS cabinets also feature a built-in iCool temperature probe that accurately monitors and stabilises drug temperatures. This ensures products do not experience temperature fluctuations that can leave them being deemed unusable.

Reliable temperature recordings

Our RTS cabinets provide healthcare practitioners with precise minimum and maximum temperature recordings throughout the day.

This data helps healthcare professionals to maintain a constant level of temperature accuracy and allows them to quickly identify any issues such as temperature fluctuations.

Trigger alarms

In the unlikely event of a drastic temperature fluctuation, CoolMed RTS cabinets are fitted with audible and visual alarms that immediately trigger to alert healthcare staff.

These trigger alarms prompt users to quickly pinpoint the cause of the temperature fluctuation, so issues can be resolved before products lose their potency and become unusable. The alarms will also sound in the event of a power failure or if the cabinet door is left open.

Door locks

All CoolMed medical fridges, freezers and RTS cabinets feature robust lockable doors to ensure product safety and to prevent cabinet break-ins and product theft.

Particularly useful if your healthcare practice stores highly sought-after or expensive medical products, durable locking systems create an additional form of defence against intruders.

Easy maintenance

As standard, our RTS cabinets feature painted aluminium interiors and plastic-coated wire shelves to allow for easy and thorough cleaning. The internal metal chamber of our RTS cabinets are built for durability and ease of use.

CoolMed RTS Cabinets

At CoolMed we have a wide range of RTS cabinets available, including cabinets of varying sizes and with different features.

Different size RTS cabinets available

The size of the RTS cabinet you require will depend on the volume of stock you need to store and the space you have available. Our wide range of different sized RTS cabinets ensure we’ll have an RTS cabinet to suit whatever healthcare environment you work in.

Our small RTS cabinet has a net capacity of 29 litres, our medium RTS cabinet has a net capacity of 145 litres and our large RTS cabinet has a net capacity of 300 litres. 

We understand that space is not always at a premium in healthcare facilities, so our small RTS cabinets are built for wall installation or to sit neatly on a countertop, while our medium sized cabinets fit perfectly under countertops.

Solid and glass door options available

All our RTS cabinets also come in both glass and solid door variations.

While a solid RTS cabinet door will provide an extra layer of security for medical stock, and protect medications that are sensitive to light, glass door designs allow you to see inside your RTS cabinet without having to open the door, preventing major temperature fluctuations.

5-year warranty as standard

Our RTS cabinets all come with a 5-year warranty as standard. Within this period, if your appliance should fail due to a faulty component, we will send an engineer to replace the component for you at no extra cost.

Contact Us

If you’d like more information on RTS cabinets, what they’re used for, or the range we have available, please email info@coolmed.co.uk, or call us at 0161 772 5666. Our team will be happy to answer any questions you have!