Monday, June 9, 2014

What You Need To Know About Sharps Disposal

By Kenya Campos


Health is the most important possession that any human being can ever own. The body dictates what a person can do and what he can not, so it is most essential to keep it in good working condition to be able to do more and get more out of life. The body can be strong and equally fragile at the same time, so its safekeeping can be quite tricky. This is the reason why health institutions are essential features in every community.

In every community, a hospital or any similar health center should be a permanent infrastructure. This is to assure that people will have easy access to most medical solutions in case of health related emergencies. The more people go in a medical facility, the more waste it will invariably produce. This particular output needs proper handling and sharps disposal nashville.

Waste comes with every activity. But, the kind that the medical field produces is on an entirely different level that the usual. It requires utmost care in management and disposal. If not disposed of properly, this can result to adverse effects that can potentially harm anything that will be affected.

There are very many types of medical waste. Like every other infrastructure, hospitals also produce solid waste. Solid waste includes plastic, food wrappers, leftovers, boxes, and other usual garbage that are thrown by other establishments everyday. They are stored in black bags just like any other trash, too.

Pharmaceutical types are, as the name suggests, trash that are composed of medicinal substances while most of these are not hazardous, they still require proper handling and dispatch. The hazardous ones are known as RCRA hazardous wastes. This type of waste, as they pose imminent danger, are regulated by the EPA and the state where the medical facility is located. Management requirements for this trash can vary among locations as there are some states that have stricter policies than others.

Red bags are used by medical institutions to dispose of regulated medical waste. These are materials and tools that are possibly contaminated by bodily fluids, blood, and feces. Gloves that are used to handle samples are classic RMWs, along with cotton swabs, speculum, pregnancy test kits, and the like.

Used urine cups after urine sampling also goes into the red bag. Pregnancy tests and other items that come in contact with body fluids are all classified as RMW. Syringes and injection devices, blades, and contaminated glass are placed in securely disposable container that is for the exclusive disposal of sharps. This container also goes into the red bag, along all the other RMWs.

The disposal of such extremely harmful waste follows a certain set of strict guidelines and even stricter regulations. If they are not dispatched correctly, they can cause harm to any people or animals that can get across them. They are possible havens of infective strains like HIV, Hepatitis C, and Hepatitis B.

These should be disposed of correctly. The best people who can do that are those with expertise in handling the said items. They make sure that the materials will never be able to hurt anyone.




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