Bloodplasma, value vs. transport cost.

[Toke]

Last night the duty officer woke me up at midnight. We had a passenger along from Marroco to France, he had a truckload of blood plasma.
There were some problem with the cooling of the truck, and the only manual in the truck was a list of alarm codes and service centers.
I figure out that the truck was getting power but had a critical alarm on the cooling system. This morning as we got to port the driver called the nearest service center and got directions on how to reset the alarm, and start the cooling again.
The set temperature was -29C, and it did not much higher in 8-10 hours without cooling.

I have transported tuna for sushi at -60C, it gets a lot of attention, and there were no lack of manuals and spareparts.
When loading some chemical for a glue factory there were a factory representative onboard to make sure that the custom made dual system container were placed correctly. If both systems broke down and the container got hot enough to start the siren on it, we were to open it and dump the boxes inside overboard.

My problem is that a rather valuable cargo is transported by a driver that don't know how the system works, and don't have at least a users manual. WTF.
Or is it only some blood products where a truckload is worth more than the vessel?

 

[theprestige]

Last night the duty officer woke me up at midnight. We had a passenger along from Marroco to France, he had a truckload of blood plasma.
There were some problem with the cooling of the truck, and the only manual in the truck was a list of alarm codes and service centers.
I figure out that the truck was getting power but had a critical alarm on the cooling system. This morning as we got to port the driver called the nearest service center and got directions on how to reset the alarm, and start the cooling again.
The set temperature was -29C, and it did not much higher in 8-10 hours without cooling.

I have transported tuna for sushi at -60C, it gets a lot of attention, and there were no lack of manuals and spareparts.
When loading some chemical for a glue factory there were a factory representative onboard to make sure that the custom made dual system container were placed correctly. If both systems broke down and the container got hot enough to start the siren on it, we were to open it and dump the boxes inside overboard.

My problem is that a rather valuable cargo is transported by a driver that don't know how the system works, and don't have at least a users manual. WTF.
Or is it only some blood products where a truckload is worth more than the vessel?

Have you considered the possibility that a for-profit company will invest capital as necessary to ensure product quality en route; but that a nonprofit hospital, operating at a loss and surviving on limited government subsidies and private charity, must make difficult trade-offs in where and how it spends what little money it does have?

 

[Toke]

Have you considered the possibility that a for-profit company will invest capital as necessary to ensure product quality en route; but that a nonprofit hospital, operating at a loss and surviving on limited government subsidies and private charity, must make difficult trade-offs in where and how it spends what little money it does have?

No, and the truck had a caption saying something like biotrans or similiar.

 

[theprestige]

No, and the truck had a caption saying something like biotrans or similiar.

So? Long-distance transportation of biomedicals is not part of a hospital's core expertise. Obviously most of them are going to subcontract for that service. Just because they're making a profit by transporting blood on behalf of hospital, that doesn't mean Biotrans can afford to invest more in their operation than their clients are willing to pay. If the hospital can only afford a no-frills, no-safeguards service, then that's what they'll get, whether they do the job themselves or not.

I suppose the other possibility is that the hospital is paying a higher price for better service, and Biotrans is bilking them. Presumably this will become an issue if/when the hospital does its due diligence, conducts its next audit, or brings the contract up for renegotiation.

 

[Toke]

So? Long-distance transportation of biomedicals is not part of a hospital's core expertise. Obviously most of them are going to subcontract for that service. Just because they're making a profit by transporting blood on behalf of hospital, that doesn't mean Biotrans can afford to invest more in their operation than their clients are willing to pay. If the hospital can only afford a no-frills, no-safeguards service, then that's what they'll get, whether they do the job themselves or not.

I suppose the other possibility is that the hospital is paying a higher price for better service, and Biotrans is bilking them. Presumably this will become an issue if/when the hospital does its due diligence, conducts its next audit, or brings the contract up for renegotiation.

Yes, that is possible, it just seem so absurd not to take better care of a valuable cargo.
But ok, even if the truck broke down at the start of the trip it is only a couple days and the blood would not thaw or just rise more than 5-10C from -29.

 

[Rolfe]

Which country was transporting the blood products? Where from, where to?

Rolfe.

 

[theprestige]

Yes, that is possible, it just seem so absurd not to take better care of a valuable cargo.

Yes, I agree that on one level it really does seem absurd.

But on another level, it doesn't seem very absurd to me at all. I think it makes complete sense that a company that profits from taking care of its cargo (e.g., a sushi restaurant or an industrial chemical plant) would spend the money necessary to ensure their profits.

I also think it makes complete sense that a nonprofit hospital, operating at a loss and with a limited budget, might value human blood very highly in principle, but be unable in practice to spend the money necessary to safeguard it properly.

I guess the only "absurdity" (if you could call it that) is that people are more willing to spend money out of their own pockets to eat good sushi or use good glue, than they are willing to pay more taxes or make more charitable donations to ensure better blood transportation.

But ok, even if the truck broke down at the start of the trip it is only a couple days and the blood would not thaw or just rise more than 5-10C from -29.

To be honest I have no idea what the "spoilage" threshold is for blood. I assume they specify -29 degrees for a reason, though.

 

[Toke]

Which country was transporting the blood products? Where from, where to?

Rolfe.

From somewhere in Marocco to Paris, the truck had french plates.
As far as I recall we brought him to Marocco as well.

I checked the danish bloodbank, Marocco is not on the list of vacationspots that give a quarantine.

 

[Rolfe]

I think The Prestige is making a whole lot of assumptions that may not be vald.

Rolfe.