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 a sealed location is part of your checkout, you have to confirm the seal before you can verify that location. Enter the number printed on the physical seal and check Seal intact and matches.
If the number on the physical seal does not match, or the seal is already broken, use the location's notes field to document what you found before moving on. Admins can review it 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 has a seal tag reading 4472. In the checkout you enter 4472 and check Seal intact and matches, break the seal, verify all the drugs, and apply a new seal (number 4518). When you complete the checkout, you enter 4518 as the new seal. The next crew confirms 4518 at the start of their shift.