Company Name: QinFlow
Headquarters: Plano, TX
Signature Product: The Warrior
Website: http://qinflow.com/
In an environment where every second counts, QinFlow’s vision is to completely eliminate the challenge of warming blood and IV fluids from the entire continuum of emergency care in order to allow emergency care professionals to focus on what they do best – saving lives.
Q&A:
1. Where did your company name originate from?
QinFlow is short for “Quality In Flow.” As the name implies, our vision is to ensure quality flow of warm blood and IV fluids to patients who need resuscitation.
2. What was the inspiration behind starting your company?
QinFlow was founded in 2009 by two elite unit paramedics in the Israeli Defense Forces who lost friends in combat situations due to the lethal combination of hypothermia and trauma. They recall carrying a 25-pound car battery in special operations in order to be able to warm one liter of fluids in the field. They identified the need for rapid, energy-efficient, easy-to-use and portable fluid warmer, and they devoted their lives to finding an adequate and affordable solution to this need.
3. What is your signature product and how does it work?
QinFlow’s signature product is the Warrior, a next-generation portable blood and IV fluid warmer for the entire continuum of emergency care. The Warrior is a modular 3-part system, composed of energy source, control unit and a sterile consumable. The Warrior uses innovative (patented) warming technology, which allows it to warm near-freezing fluids to body temperature in seconds, even at high flow rates. The Warrior can operate with a battery or with an AC power source, and switching from one mode to the other mode is accomplished within seconds. A single battery will warm six units of blood products or 10 units of IV fluids (500cc bags assumed). The Warrior is mountable to a rail, stretcher or pole. It is practically a maintenance-free device with a minimum of five years between service cycles, no calibration required and no spare parts needed.
4. Why do you believe your products are essential to the EMS community?
Hypothermia is a serious threat to patients suffering from traumatic injuries in the prehospital environment since it can induce the lethal trauma “Triad of Death” – a vicious cycle involving hypothermia, acidosis and coagulopathy which can occur even in temperate climates. It is imperative that the treatment of hypothermia begin in the prehospital environment. Additionally, as the overwhelming magnitude of preventable trauma-related mortality in the prehospital setting becomes apparent, the use of blood products is becoming a standard of care for professionals in the prehospital setting. They are stored cold and need to be warmed to prevent hypothermia. The Warrior provides an effective solution to warm blood and fluids prior to infusion, thus breaking the sequela of events associated with the “Triad of Death.”
5. What has been the biggest challenge your company has faced?
Meeting the regulatory requirements is typically the biggest challenge for any medical device company, and QinFlow is not an exception. Our challenge included also demanding safe-to-fly requirements and military standards. Educating EMS teams regarding the shortfalls of administering cold fluids also represents a challenge in some places.
6. What makes your company unique?
We are extremely passionate about what we do, and we strive to exceed our customers’ expectations. It’s always easier to exceed customers’ expectations when your technology and products are delivering unmatched performance. Nonetheless, we are extremely attentive to our customers and constantly introduce complementary innovations to address customers’ feedback. Another unique part of our solution relates to our ability to address – with a single solution – the entire continuum of emergency care; namely, civil and military first responders, critical care transports and hospital settings (ED, trauma, OR and ICU). This is translated into better care and reduced cost of ownership.
7. What do your customers like best about your products?
Customers appraise us for our level of pre-sale and post-sale support and for the excellent performance levels of the Warrior. Regarding the latter point (performance levels), our customers particularly appreciate the fast warming of near freeze fluids to body temperature even at high flow rates. They also like the fact that the Warrior is extremely easy to operate and maintain. Large accounts also appreciate our unique continuum-of-emergency-care offering, which is translated into better care and reduced cost of ownership.
8. What is the most rewarding part of serving the first responder community?
There is nothing more rewarding than the realization that our technology, products and efforts help in saving lives on a daily basis. I think that this is an important driver for many manufacturers in this industry, since the barriers of entry are immense. For us, a company that has its roots in the IDF, helping in saving lives is an absolute passion. We feel fortunate to serve this industry!
9. Is there any fun fact or trivia that you’d like to share with our users about you or your company?
Something we take great pride in at QinFlow is providing Warrior solution to crisis zones across the World to aid in the efforts of responders. Our mission is to help saves lives and we will continue to assist where people need it most.
The Warrior was benchmarked in an independent study against other prominent inline portable warmer and delivered superior results. Request the full study here.
10. What’s next for your company? Any upcoming new projects or initiatives?
Committed to our vision, we are constantly working to improve our solutions and have several important innovations in our pipeline, especially around the reduction of size and weight. At the same time, we are developing complementary technologies that have the potential to assist in saving additional lives.
