Tank for storage?? HELP

BeaBea

I had 3 vials shipped to me (doing at-home insemination) and they arrived today. I believed I could leave the vials in the tank (and discussed this with a CCB rep a few days ago) but the instructions that came with the tank state:
"The dry shipper is a shipping container and is only designed and intended for maintaining the proper temperature of specimens during transport. The dry shipper is NOT a storage tank ad should not be used as such. Upon receipt and verification of the contents, IMMEDIATELY transfer all specimens into a storage container capability of maintaining the temperature below -150 C"

WTF????? It would have been helpful to know I needed a special storage container before I potentially wasted thousands of dollars, or am I misunderstanding something? I'm sick over this please help!

Beginner

I am not so sure since I didn't have mine shipped to me but I remember that when I went to pick it up the day before the insemination, I was told that the storage have dry ice that will last for five days.

Maybe shipping require different storage but I am wondering when it was shipped and how many days it took for you to receive it.

Maybe for an effort to try to keep it cold, you can put the shipping storage with the vials in dry ice. What do you think?

BeaBea

I've read in other parts of this forum that the shipping tank will keep the vials at the necessary temp for 5 days. But the instructions clearly and emphatically state that the tank is not for storage and the vials must immediately be transferred to a storage container to maintain the temp. So those are obvious contradictory statements that CCB really needs to clear up. I don't want to mess anything up. I don't happen to have dry ice on hand and I'm not sure it'll be sufficient. I guess I have no choice but to leave the vials in the tank and hope for the best.

Beginner

Hi BeaBea,
Definitely keep the vials in the tank. I checked out the FAQs and saw this:

How are the semen specimens packaged and shipped?
We send the specimens in liquid nitrogen dry shipper tanks via Federal Express or local courier. The specimens are guaranteed in the dry shipper tanks for 7 days from the date shipped. Shipments within the United States are sent using an overnight courier service.

Hope that helps.

cryo-admin

Hi Bea -

Yes, you can keep the vials in the tank as the CCB Client Consultant instructed. The tank is validated for 7 days (starting from the day that it's shipped.)

The shipping container's purpose is to transport the vials and the messaging is to prevent clinics or individuals from leaving vials in the tank long-term. Clinics may not know how long the vials have been in transit and if they have been in transit for 7 days, it's extremely important for the staff to move the vials to cryogenic storage.

Please note that "dry ice" should never be used. We use liquid nitrogen to maintain the correct temperature.

If you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact Client Services at 866-927-9622.

Best of luck with your insemination!

Regards,

Nicole
CCB

BeaBea

Thank you, Nicole, for your reply. CCB may want to consider enclosing different instructions for DIY'ers than doctors, or at least clarify in the instructions that it's ok to leave the vials in the tank for up to 7 days from shipping. The instructions included stressed (complete with ALL CAPS, bolded, *and* underlined text) that the tank could not be used for storage and immediate transfer was required. It caused unnecessary anxiety during an already stressful moment.

Nova dia

AGREED!! I freaked out and called them!