What a seal is
A seal is a numbered, tamper-evident tag placed on a drug storage location — usually a narcotics box or a locked compartment. The idea is simple: if the seal is intact and the number matches, nobody has opened the box since the last checkout.
Seal verification during checkouts
When you open a sealed location during a checkout, its card shows the Expected seal value at the top. You type the number printed on the physical seal into the input and tick Seal matches expected. If no seal has been recorded yet — for example the first time a new box is used — the label changes to Seal applied and recorded and you enter the number of the seal you just placed.
If the number on the physical seal does not match the expected number, use the notes field on the location to document what you found before moving on. Admins can review the discrepancy afterwards.
Breaking the seal
After you verify the seal number, you break the seal to perform the checkout. This is expected — you cannot check the contents without opening the box. At the end of the checkout, you apply a new seal and record its number when you check the location back in.
Why seals matter
Seals provide a layer of accountability between checkouts. If a controlled substance goes missing and the seal was intact, it narrows down when the issue could have occurred. If the seal was broken or mismatched, it points to a specific time window.
Example
You arrive for your shift and pick up Medic 9. The narcotics box shows an expected seal of 4472 in the app, and the physical tag reads 4472. You enter 4472, tick Seal matches expected, break the seal, verify all the drugs, and then apply a new seal (number 4518). When you check in, you enter 4518. The next crew will see 4518 as the expected seal at the start of their shift.