Medical institutions generate huge volumes of wastes in a single day. These wastes should be handled appropriately right from collection, transportation, treatment and eventually disposal. These health institutions have equipment which can be used to incinerate some of the wastes. Even after burning they still have to get ways of disposing of wastes such as needles, syringes, and chemical wastes. The smaller health care center has the greatest problem of discarding waste as some do not have autoclaves.
To effectively dispose of medical waste including used syringes, scalpels, and IV catheters, use sharp containers to ensure that they are thoroughly segregated. It is a conventional practice to use a needle once and then disposed to avoid the sharing of needles between patients. Sharing of needles among patients is a major contributor to the blood transmissible diseases. The disposal containers are colored red or yellow and are constructed from hard plastic material to ensure that they are not risky to handle and to ensure that needles do not prick them. The container should also have biohazardous material label. The disposal kits come in two variants, the single use only which is used only once and when full it is disposed of together with its contents. Reusable type is the second variant, which is usually disinfected by use of machines then the contents are placed in a medical waste handling plant before it is returned for another round of use.
Hospitals usually have sharps disposal containers in the patient care rooms. Individuals who have diabetes should have a disposal kit in their homes as they have to administer insulin injection daily. It is crucial to dispose of the syringes properly since it is extremely hazardous to spread pathogens whenever used needles penetrate your skin.
The use of these containers is straightforward. One just inserts them in the container using an opening that is upside of the container without letting them touch the outside. Never push or force the needles into avoiding damage and needle stick accidents. Don’t forget to change the container before they become too full. The full container should be made to authorized venue or a medical facility for disposal.
Different sizes of these containers are available. The tiny ones are suitable for the patient examination sections while the big ones fit the critical parts such as surgery rooms.
Medical waste disposal is an important part of the healthcare system that cannot be ignored . Even a single syringe if not properly disposed, it can lead to incurable dangerous disease infiltrating the public. Therefore management and disposal of healthcare waste should be handled very careful with regards to the safety of the patients, general public and the environment itself.