Freezers on board? (Medication question)

Old Dec 13, 2017, 2:07 pm
  #1  
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Freezers on board? (Medication question)

I'll be having to travel in January-February with medication in the form of a small number of syringes for self-injecting. These need to be kept refrigerated, and will be carried in a box inside a small insulated bag kept cool with icepacks. The maximum duration of use for such a bag is about 6 hours, it seems, and some of my flights will be much longer than that. While I'm sure I'll be able to ask FAs to place a small box of syringes in a refrigerated compartment, I don't know if UA planes also have freezer compartments where I could put a couple of icepacks so that the bag has another few hours of use once I am off the plane. And if so, whether only long-haul or short-haul as well. Travel will be mostly in BF and domestic F.

Any wisdom or experience from the board will be much appreciated. (And yes, I will carry documentation to enable me to pass through security with the kit.)
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 2:31 pm
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Originally Posted by 1P
I'll be having to travel in January-February with medication in the form of a small number of syringes for self-injecting. These need to be kept refrigerated, and will be carried in a box inside a small insulated bag kept cool with icepacks. The maximum duration of use for such a bag is about 6 hours, it seems, and some of my flights will be much longer than that. While I'm sure I'll be able to ask FAs to place a small box of syringes in a refrigerated compartment, I don't know if UA planes also have freezer compartments where I could put a couple of icepacks so that the bag has another few hours of use once I am off the plane. And if so, whether only long-haul or short-haul as well. Travel will be mostly in BF and domestic F.

Any wisdom or experience from the board will be much appreciated. (And yes, I will carry documentation to enable me to pass through security with the kit.)
Commercial airliners that UA flies do have freezers (cooled by dry ice and air circulation). As for using them for your own medicine... You'll have to ask the FA, it really depends. Some may let you use it, some may not.
Good Luck!
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 2:34 pm
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Not aware of freezers or refrigerators on aircraft. Items are pre-frozen and if needed ice / dry ice is used to keep food items chilled.

UA states
Medicine
You should carry your medications with you onboard the flight. In fact, you should never put your medications in your checked bag. Keep in mind that you may be asked to check your carry-on bag at the gate due to space constraints in the cabin. It is your responsibility to remove your medications before giving your bag to a flight attendant or agent at the gate. Our aircraft do not have refrigerators on board, so please plan accordingly. Also, if you use needles to inject medication, have your doctor's prescription with you just in case security officers have questions.
I have gotten ice from FA's for an ice bag.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 2:55 pm
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AFAIK there are chillers to keep meal carts cold. This is critical for ULH flights. As for putting personal items in these cart storage areas or indeed the carts, I doubt it, but others may know the system better than I.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 3:02 pm
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FAs might have objections to storing your materials in contact with ice that is to be used for people's drinks, not being able to guarantee its safety, etc. so I would suggest making plans to be self-sufficient. Maybe a small amount of dry ice of your own in a styrofoam container (just enough not to freeze the liquid contents) could be enough to get you through. Or alternatively, contact your doctor to see just how strict the refrigeration requirement is (in hours) -- it is probably survivable for a few hours more without great harm, but you should check.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 3:38 pm
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I suggest calling United and asking them for guidance.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 4:34 pm
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Originally Posted by NH_Clark
I suggest calling United and asking them for guidance.
No need to call. The policy is clearly stated on the website and copied in this thread above.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 5:44 pm
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Also be aware that some medications should be refrigerated, but NOT FROZEN. Doubtful that any on-board refrigeration will be able to maintain a tight temperature range, given the condition of some of the in-flight meals I've been served (frozen lettuce). This could also be a problem if you use dry ice (which is around -70 C with the vapor phase being well below the freezing point). Check with your pharmacist or search the package labeling for guidelines. And in a related note, some refrigerated medication is actually quite stable for ~28 days at room temp and only needs to be kept cold for long term storage. Yours might be one of these. But it might not.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 6:17 pm
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At the airline I work for, medicine cannot be stored in the chillers because food for the passengers are there. You can ask for ice for your medicine.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 6:26 pm
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I get my medication shipped and it cannot get above a certain temperature (insulin). It arrives with in a cheap styrofoam cooler with a frozen pack and a cold pack. It seems to hold for a couple of days. I do the same in my travels. I have two frozen packs and an insulated lunch box. I have never had one melt in six hours. The insulin stays cold for 8-10. For insulin that I don't need to refrigerate but keep from getting over 80 degrees I use something called a Frio. It can keep insulin from getting too warm for a couple of days. I used it for travel to Bangkok and Hong Kong and Singapore and it worked really well. Again, that is for my insulin once I start using it and have too keep it at cool room temperature.

As others have said, I have gotten some ice in a bag when I thought my cold packs might be getting too warm, but they seem to work pretty well for a good long time.

I have accidentally frozen my insulin by putting it in a poorly controlled hotel room refrigerator. That was a $300 mistake I will not make again. I don't use hotel fridges for insulin anymore. I use the freezer part (if available) to refreeze the cold packs one at a time while I keep the insulin in the cooler with the other. I have these little tabs that change color if the inside gets too warm, but they have never gotten to that point.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 6:49 pm
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To be clear, there is no refrigeration of the sort you require and while there may be a FA willing to place your medicine in an iced area, that would be in violation of UA's food safety rules for fairly obvious reasons.

You should consult the package insert or label (meaning everything that accompanies the drug) for any information it may offer and, if nothing describes what you require, speak with your physician, pharmacist, or even the manufacturer.

As others note, many medications requiring temperature control are shipped routinely in styrofoam containers with a cooler pack (not an ice pack because that may cause freezing) and are in transit for 24-48 hours. Perhaps your drug can tolerate that? This presumes that the container is not opened, meaning that what you need for the flight itself will need to be more accessible,

It is particularly important to pay attention to minimum temperatures too. Your drug may tolerate sub-freezing temperatures such as might surround a cart on a ULH flight, but many will not.

This should all be fairly easy information to obtain as tens of thousands of passengers require some temperature-controlled drug and manage.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 7:48 pm
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How about bring your insulated bag with your ice packs and several empty quart or gallon size Ziploc baggies, then when the ice packs start warming up ask the FA for some ice to fill the Ziploc bags to keep everything cold?

This way all the crew has to worry about is getting you some ice a few times during the flight, and you don't have to worry about the meds being out of your control.

I think keeping the medicine in an aircraft compartment used for any type of food prep will be a non starter.

Last edited by Lost; Dec 13, 2017 at 7:54 pm
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 7:58 pm
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I think youd be better off trying to find a container/ice pack that stays cold for more than 6 hours rather than dealing with UA. I have a portable cooler that can keep my beer cold and ice frozen sitting outside in the Texas sun for an entire weekend, so it shouldnt be difficult.
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 10:50 pm
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I've traveled IAH > NRT with ANA with an injection that needed to be kept chilled, spoke to flight attendant who kept it in a refrigerator. I kept it in a travel bag (like half the size a normal toiletry bag?) and it kept well. Though this was at least 8 years ago, I feel like they'd still be accomodating.

I suggest bringing several ice packs and several copies of the doctor's note about keeping it chilled (just in case). If you can't keep the injections in the fridge per the Airline/flight attendant (most tend to be accepting), ask them to keep the ice packs in the freezer and rotate as you see fit.

Agreed with ^ txaggiemiles said. Can you bring a small Yeti cooler or even a big vacuum thermos to keep it cold? My big hydroflask could hold my syringe and ice tube/straws. Good luck!
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Old Dec 13, 2017, 11:27 pm
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Not storing or even coming into contact with passengers’ medication was a point of emphasis during this year’s FA recurrent training. Passengers are allowed to bring bring 5.5lbs of dry ice on board. I’d suggest doing that, and packing accordingly.

There are, however, sharps disposal containers available. Ask an FA for one should you need it -- and please don't throw it away in the lav or other trash bins.

For what it's worth, generally, widebody aircraft do have chillers for the meal carts onboard, though the carts are generally kept shut until it is time to use the meals -- policy dictates you will not be allowed to store anything in these. Once all meals have been used, the chillers are turned off (otherwise, the galleys become chillers too). There are no freezers to re-freeze ice packs, however.
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