The Importance of UN3373 Insulated Shippers

While the need to safely transport medical material has always been a priority, COVID-19 has made it more vital than ever. Diagnostics have exploded, and patients need answers right away. To make sure that your shipment arrives at its destination as quickly and securely as possible, UN3373 Insulated Shippers can provide the right kind of protection in a convenient package.

UN3373 Insulated Shippers provide safe transport for temperature-sensitive specimens for doctors. Whether blood and its components, tissue, or other fluids, UN3373 can provide secure shipping for diagnosis or investigation.

Here at Path-Tec, we know the pressure that doctors, labs, and hospitals are facing to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. We provide several options to help give you the speed and security with our UN3373 Shippers. By partnering with many different manufacturers, we have taken the confusion and delays out of shipping your specimens.

Please keep in mind if the source (either patient or animal) of your specimen is known to have a serious disease that can easily be transmitted and effective treatment is not readily available, it should be assigned either UN2814 or UN2900 as applicable.

Why Proper Transport is Vital for Medical Specimens

When you need answers in the medical field, every day counts. However, cutting corners to your shipment can result in unintended consequences.

If your specimen’s shipment is compromised, you can waste precious time and resources recollecting the specimen to send again. At worst, it can result in a misdiagnosis and compromise your patient’s care.

Many specimens require a specific temperature to make sure it is properly preserved. However, shipping warehouses and mail trucks can reach prohibitively high temperatures. The result is an unusable specimen. An insulated shipper will help it maintain the right temperature and ensure that the sample is useable at its destination.

Compromised specimens can also put other people at risk. A leak or spill can be dangerous for postal workers, recipients, and anyone nearby.

Cutting corners or relying on traditional containers can have serious costs. Taking proper precautions by using packaging made for the medical field ensures that you can get answers as quickly as possible.

What Packaging is Required for Safe Transport of Medical Specimens

To avoid any unnecessary risks, the UN3373 shipper is made up of three components. They consist of a leak-proof primary container, leak-proof secondary packaging, and an outer package. The outer package has adequate strength for its capacity, mass, and intended use, as well as at least one surface that has a minimum dimension of 100 mm x 100 mm.

In addition, if the specimen is a liquid, there should be enough absorbent material between the primary and secondary components. This way, there is no chance that liquid will escape the package, and the integrity of the cushioning material is not compromised.

If there are multiple containers in a single secondary package, each one needs to either be individually wrapped or somehow separated to prevent any contact.

Using the proper size shipper is another critical aspect of maintaining the specimen. If the packaging is too big or small, it could be compromised. UN3373 shippers come in four convenient sizes to make sure that each specimen is properly packed and secure:

• Small (9 QT)
• Medium (15 QT)
• Large (22 QT)
• Extra-Large (85 QT)

Doctors, hospitals, and labs are under tremendous pressure to make sure their patients are getting the right care. Proper shipment of specimens is one problem that we can solve for you. Reach out to one of our experts to help you navigate your COVID-19 kitting needs.