Specimen Transport

In further followup to our June 15, 2023, Freezing Coagulation Specimens post, here is a June 2023 CAP Today article about specimen transport.

In follow-up, I [Geo] contacted Dr. Joe Wiencek, who was referenced in the article. Here is my question and his answer:
Dr. Wiencek, I’m writing in response to the CAP June 2023 article about specimen transport. My question relates to whole blood coagulation specimens that are stored at ambient temperature which implies 20–24 degrees C. How can they be transported at these temperatures when the temperature can reach 30–35 degrees on a warm summer day?

Here is Dr. Wiencek’s response:

Thank you, George – I appreciate your interest in the article and the AACC session this year. Coagulation is a delicate area as you highlighted below. It will be important for you to work with your courier service to make sure there is 1.) SOPs, 2.) appropriate temperature monitoring for the conditions you want to store and transport in 3.) mitigation strategies for extreme temperatures and 4.) potentially use a portable incubator for these instances. These devices are available on the market but, of course, at a cost. They can range from keeping cold to body temps.

Interestingly, there is a great discussion right now on what ambient temperature is within our group. In the most recent PRE04 (not in print yet, I believe) and H21, both groups cited ambient or what I like to refer to as thermostatically controlled room temperature as 15-25C. However, I am aware of several coagulation preanalytical papers that use the temperature range you cite below.