Storage and expiration alerts for critical equipment and medicines

Purpose

1. Systematically monitor storage conditions and expiration dates for life-saving medical equipment and pharmaceuticals crucial to air ambulance operations.

2. Ensure regulatory compliance, patient safety, and operational readiness by preemptively identifying expiring or out-of-spec items.

3. Trigger real-time alerts and actionable notifications for inventory managers, compliance leads, and clinical staff.

4. Integrate automatic logging and documentation for audit trails in quality assurance processes.

5. Reduce risks associated with expired or compromised medication/equipment during urgent deployments.

Trigger Conditions

1. Data entry or scan of newly received equipment or medicine with associated expiration date into central inventory system.

2. Scheduled automated checks (e.g., midnight daily) of expiration timelines versus current date.

3. Sensor- or IoT-driven storage anomalies (temperatures, humidity, open fridge door, etc.).

4. Manual flag by staff for nearing expiration or environmental breach.

5. Regulatory threshold compliance triggers (e.g., item must be replaced X days before expiry).

Platform Variants

1. Twilio SMS

• Feature: programmable SMS API — configure message flow to designated staff numbers on expiry/event detection.
  
• Sample: “Send alert ‘Product X expires in 3 days’ using Messaging API to inventory manager.”
  

2. SendGrid

• Feature: Transactional email API — auto-email alert with item and expiration details to compliance inbox.
  
• Sample: “POST /mail/send with subject ‘Critical Equipment Expiry’ to [email protected].”
  

3. Microsoft Teams

• Feature: webhook connector — push automated card with item, status, action button to channel.
  
• Sample: “Send adaptive card via Incoming Webhook to #MedicalSupplies channel.”
  

4. Google Chat

• Feature: chat bot integrated with event-driven scripts — send thread message to #Alerts room.
  
• Sample: “Call chat.spaces.messages.create to notify on expiring medicine.”
  

5. Slack

• Feature: workflow builder and incoming webhooks — post structured message in #compliance-alerts.
  
• Sample: “Send POST payload with expiry details to Slack webhook endpoint.”
  

6. PagerDuty

• Feature: Events API — trigger incident when equipment expires or storage alarm detected.
  
• Sample: “Trigger new incident using /v2/enqueue for ‘IV Pump Expiring’.”
  

7. ServiceNow

• Feature: create incident record via REST API when compliance breach detected.
  
• Sample: “POST /api/now/table/incident with source ‘StorageMonitor’.”
  

8. Microsoft Power Automate

• Feature: scheduled and event-based flows — monitor SharePoint/Excel inventory and alert on threshold.
  
• Sample: “If [expiry] < [today+7], send Teams alert.”
  

9. Google Sheets

• Feature: Apps Script triggers — check expiration columns and email/notify if overdue.
  
• Sample: “Time-driven script mails if D-column date < today+5.”
  

10. AWS SNS

• Feature: publish event – send SMS, email, or push to topic subscribers.
  
• Sample: “Publish ‘Urgent: Epinephrine expires soon’ to arn:aws:sns:…”
  

11. Azure Logic Apps

• Feature: monitor data source, run logic, send Teams/email/SMS notification.
  
• Sample: “Schedule daily run, query SQL for [expiry < today+X], push alert.”
  

12. Zapier

• Feature: workflow automation between inventory app and chosen alert channel.
  
• Sample: “Trigger: New row in Google Sheet, Action: Gmail alert.”
  

13. Freshservice

• Feature: automatic ticket creation on inventory expiration.
  
• Sample: “API call to /api/v2/tickets when expiry rule met.”
  

14. Salesforce

• Feature: process builder/Flow — monitor custom object, send Chatter alert or email.
  
• Sample: “If [Asset Expiry] < 30 days, push notification to asset owner.”
  

15. HubSpot

• Feature: workflow automation — trigger deal/task for expiring medicine/equipment.
  
• Sample: “If custom object expiry < deadline, assign follow-up.”
  

16. Jotform

• Feature: form automation — submit restock requests or log expired item via pre-filled fields.
  
• Sample: “On expiry alert, auto-create Jotform ticket.”
  

17. OneSignal

• Feature: push notification to staff mobile apps.
  
• Sample: “Send push with expiry details to all users in ‘medic’ segment.”
  

18. Notion

• Feature: database reminders and notifications.
  
• Sample: “If [Expiration Date] < [Today]+3, create mention for owner.”
  

19. Monday.com

• Feature: automation recipe — monitor item status/expiry and notify assigned staff.
  
• Sample: “When expiration date arrives, send auto-update to owner.”
  

20. Trello

• Feature: Butler automation to notify on card due dates representing expiration.
  
• Sample: “If card [Expires Soon], post comment and mention board owner.”
  

21. Asana

• Feature: rule-based task & comment notifications for date triggers.
  
• Sample: “If custom Date field < 3 days, comment ‘Expiry imminent’.”
  

22. WhatsApp Business API

• Feature: template message alerts to registered numbers.
  
• Sample: “POST expiry notice payload to staff for urgent review.”
  

Benefits

1. Prevents use of expired/unsafe supplies, enhancing patient safety and regulatory compliance.

2. Reduces manual tracking burdens and human error.

3. Provides audit logs for quality management and inspections.

4. Ensures timely restock actions, minimalizing downtime risks.

5. Boosts accountability by documenting task acknowledgement and resolution stages.