BD's Bactec Safepod ensures the safe transportation of blood culture vials in pneumatic tube systems and the safe transportation of positive blood cultures from satellite sites to a central lab.
The BD Bactec Safepod is an enclosed system that is designed to accommodate up to two BD Bactec bottles and that will fit all pneumatic tube transport systems in order to safely convey blood culture vials from the point of collection to the point of analysis.
The BD Safepod contains an absorbent insert that separates the BD Bactec blood culture vials to cushion them during high-speed transportation and is capable of absorbing 100ml of liquid - more than sufficient for the contents of two bottles.
The Safepod is manufactured from clear plastic to enable staightforward inspection prior to opening.
Chris Head-Jenner, marketing manager of UK and Ireland at BD, who led the product design, said: 'Historically, there has been a reluctance to transport biological compounds in glass bottles through hospital pneumatic tube systems, for fear of breakage.
'The BD Bactec Safepod addresses these customer concerns by providing a system that safely transports biological compounds and meets HPA requirements, while also saving space and time,' added Head-Jenner.
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is now using the BD Bactec Safepod system at St Mary's, Chelsea and Westminster, Hammersmith and Charing Cross hospitals.
The new system is claimed to be simple to load to use.
The BD Bactec Safepod is fully compliant with all UN 3373 transportation requirements for diagnostic blood specimens - both inside and outside the hospital.
BD Bactec blood culture bottles are fully compliant as the primary receptables, and the BD Bactec Safepod is fully compliant as the secondary receptacles.
The BD Bactec bottles and the BD Bactec Safepod count as the first two layers, enabling further packaging into either a pneumatic tube for transportation within the hospital or a rigid box for transportation within sites.
