Hi, everybody！
I would ask about the definition of infectious waste.
CDC describes about it in the Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control
in Health-Care Facilities(157page) as below:
"Categories of Regulated Medical Waste
A. Designate the following as major categories of medical waste that require
special handling
and disposal precautions: 1) microbiology laboratory wastes [e.g., cultures
and stocks of
microorganisms]; 2) bulk blood, blood products, blood and bloody body fluid
specimens;
3) pathology and anatomy waste; and 4) sharps [e.g., needles and scalpels]."
However, in our country, we still consider the items containing a very small
quantity of blood, even a blood-spotted gauze, as the infectious waste.
Therefore, the items are supposed to be collected into the special bag like
"
red bag" or the hard box and disposed as the infectious waste.
I think it's waste of money and those items should be scrapped as ordinary
waste.
So please tell me your methods of disposing the blood-containing items and
how much volume "bulk blood" mean?
***********************************************************************
Kenji Kono, MD
Fukuoka Wajinkai Hospital
1-33-18, Ikinomatsubara, Nishi-ku
Fukuoka 819-0055
Japan
tel 92-891-7621
fax 92-882-8051
e-mail kono@hica.com
URL http://hica.jp
I consider any item with blood or body fluids in / on it that can be contained as OK for the regular trash. If I change a dressing and there is body secretions on it but I can take my gloves off turning them inside out and contain the substance that can go into the regular trash. If a patient is incontinent on a chux and I can remove it, fold the chux so that the contents don't drip out it goes in the regular trash. Our suction containers, chest tube collection devices go in red bag trash because if they would break open the contents would spill out - that can't be contained.
Carla
Carla Parker MSN RN CNA BC
Director of Quality Management
SemperCare Hospital of Akron
525 E. Market Street
Akron, Ohio 44309
(330) 375-4085
Hello: We have used an example of "saturated" to explain when dressings should be placed in red bag waste. By using that term, we are saying that blood could easily drip or run from the object in question which means that it could spread within a bag and contaminate all of the items around it. Saturated items are to be placed in red bag waste containers.
Best wishes. Linda
The Environmental Protection Agency has defined saturated as dripping liquid, liquid will exude when the item is compressed or body fluids will flake off during transport.
Akron General Medical Center
Diane Salisbury
330-344-6532
Here are some sites to look at. Back in 1999, the Ohio Hospital
Association agreement with EPA to reduce the amount of infectious waste
going to land fills. Our organization is part of a Green Team
organizations listed below to help health care reduce waste, all types. We
are virtually mercury free as of the end of this year. For infectious
waste, there must be
We use a phrase for staff to use:
If it is wet and flows, into the red bag it goes.
A statement fromAPIC.
The statement from APIC is as follows:
Please contact me with questions or concerns.
"Keeping Quality and Safety at the core of growth.
Teamwork+Accountability=Compliance."
Virginia Deighton
Manager of Environmental Health and Safety/Infection Control
Thank you for the information. I am assuming that since you shared your
slogan with us, we can use it. I think it will work!
Joan Mallick
Lake Hospital System
sure. The more we can get everyone to stop thinking that every drop of
blood must go into the red bag, the better our environment will be. We
will not be wasting water to steam sterilize items that will end up in
land fills anyway. In my job as both Environmental Health and Safety as
well as Infection Control,, I realize that there is a joint relation ship
between the two that is very important.
Now having said, that, with everything there is always exceptions. I get
staff now calling me with questions and we work to figure it out together.
I also have national resources, you all, plus our national IC committee
here at KP that I can ask when in doubt. So for the majority of things we
do, the slogan is wonderful.
.
Please contact me with questions or concerns.
"Keeping Quality and Safety at the core of growth.
Teamwork+Accountability=Compliance."
Virginia Deighton
Manager of Environmental Health and Safety/Infection Control
PLEASE NOTE, I HAVE A NEW PAGER AS OF 10-25-04
1-216-568-2657
or Text Message me on Lotus notes
2165682657@archwireless.net