Medical waste management is essential to ensure the safety of our health professionals, employees and patients. In a wider sense, it’s vital to our communities and for the health and safety of our environment.
The proper storage, handling, processing and disposal of hazardous waste are integral to proper waste management. Any error in this area could cause a catastrophe.
More than 16 billion syringes are released every year; however they aren’t disposed of correctly after use, as per the report of World Health Organization.
Let’s First Discuss What Medical Or Biomedical Waste Is.
Recalling medical waste: All waste generated in the course of diagnosis, treatment or vaccination of humans or animals or during related research as well as the production or testing of biological waste is known as medical waste.
This should also encompass materials that result from the creation of biomedical waste which may be considered to be of laboratory or medical origin (e.g. packaging, unneeded bandages or infusion kits.) Also, the work-related waste that contains biomolecules or organisms typically prohibited from being released to the environment.
The primary categories for medical waste include Sharps waste and pathological waste, as well as other infectious trash, pharmaceutical waste, toxic radioactive waste as well as general (non-risk) garbage. Today, 85% of this waste is not hazardous with 15% being toxic.
In accordance with WHO guidelines The WHO guidelines allow medical waste to be divide into the following types
Carcinogenic, Mutagenic, or teratogenic cytotoxic drugs and other hazardous waste disposal that pose a risk.
- Any waste that contains radioactive substances is consider radioactive.
- Liquid waste generate by machinery, batteries, and disinfectants are also know as chemical waste.
Drugs that are not use or expire and medicines, like tablets, lotions, and antibiotics are all pharmaceutical waste.
Infectious Waste – Any Waste That Is Contaminated Or Infectious.
Human or animal organs, tissue blood, body parts or bodily fluids can be classified as an unsanitary waste.
– Needles, scalpels broken glass and razors are all examples of sharps.
Who Produces Medical Waste?
Biomedical waste can be produce through medical and human practices, such as diagnosis prevention, treatment and prevention.
Medical clinics, schools, nursing homes Emergency medical services, laboratories for scientific testing, doctors’ offices, dentists’ offices, veterinarians’ offices and home health care and morgues and funeral homes are all common sources (or producers) from biological waste.
Waste from surgery or medical procedures is waste with these characteristics. It is produced by healthcare facilities (e.g. hospitals, labs, doctors’ offices, vet schools and clinical research laboratories).
There are several methods for removing waste that anyone dealing with this kind of waste should think about
Collection
Biomedical waste is dispose of using diverse types of containers source from various biomedical waste sources like labs, operating rooms kitchen, wards and corridors.
The bins or containers must be place in a way that they collect all of the garbage. Sharps should be store in puncture-proof containers to safeguard employees from injuries and illnesses.
Wheelbarrows cover or trolleys must be use for transporting the waste to be treat. The manual method should not be use.
Segregation
The first step towards adhering to the regulations for hazardous waste disposal is to separate trash (although there are exceptions to this rule. is consider dangerous).
There are guidelines regarding medical waste management that clearly define how each kind of waste is to be take care of. For instance sharps disposal differs greatly from the disposal of chemotherapeutic waste.
It is vital to have clarity, especially concerning the requirements of regulatory bodies for the storage, transport as well as disposing or dangerous medical waste.
Transportation
Once it has be separate the trash must be move in a proper manner. Wheelbarrows that are cover or trolleys can be use for the transfer of hazardous waste management to treatment.
Insofar as is possible, manual loading needs to be avoid. Prior to transporting BMWs the bags or containers that are carrying them must be secure or tie.
Before you can transfer to the BMW bag to another location, the BMW needs to be accompanie by an official document from a physician or nurse that contains the dates, shifts, the quantity and destination.
Special vehicles should be use to safeguard transportation operators as well as scavengers and people in general from having direct access to and contact with the garbage.
The containers for shipment need to be adequately protect. The driver should be educate on the proper procedures to follow when there is a spill, and the consequences of traffic accidents must be consider through the process of designing.
The trash from clinical waste disposal of after it has be clean to ensure its security. Anything that is not reuseable such as fabrics or needles, must be clean and safe before going away.
In general, an autoclave is employ for this task. An autoclave for clinical use is a machine that makes use of steam to fix hardware as well as other equipment.
Incineration
Clinical waste is processed in two ways. Through burning it in an off-site disposal site or making use of the microwave or autoclave method. The first step is to have the waste burned, which destroys the 99.9% of bacteria as well as some remnants.
Then, the incineration process takes place in a controlled area specifically designed to give complete combustion with minimal environmental impact. Medical waste must be heat prior to burn, and then remove.
Microwaving
The microwave treatment, as mentioned earlier, utilises extremely high temperatures to break down and treat medical waste.
Microwave therapy functions similarly to regular microwaves in that it produces heat through heating water particles in the material.
However, since microwaves rely on water for cleaning materials, any materials that are destine for treatment with microwaves must be destroy in specific conditions before combining with water prior to treat.
Steam
The steam sterilisation process is one of the economical alternatives for medical waste treatment, which is also popular in the less developed countries.
If used as a stand-alone device or part of an integrated sun steam steriliser or solar heating eliminates bacteria and cleans the environment with the help of a solar cooker.
Autoclaving
Sharps tools, like needles and knives, syringes and other similar items are heat in autoclaves. Autoclaves can accommodate anything between 100 and 4000 tonnes of bulk waste.
Autoclaves are able to provide high-temperature steam cleaning of medical waste to ensure complete sterilisation by steam.
Items that have be sterilize are safe and are dispose of following standard methods after sterilisation by an autoclave.
Disposal of chemicals
Chemical disinfection is an option to treat certain types of medical wastes that don’t respond well to conventional treatment methods.
Chemical disinfection is use primarily to treat liquid-base wastes like urine, blood and faeces as well as hospital sewerage. The process generally involves shredding substances and treating as close to the collection site as possible.
Recycling
Before generating trash, it is asses if the volume of waste generate can be reduce so that it reduces the amount of effort require for handling, treatment and disposal.
But, reuse of equipment has virtually disappear due to the commercialization of products that are only use once and the need to stop the spread of nosocomial illnesses. This is particularly true for medical equipment such as needles for syringes.
There are, however, alternative ways to recycle or reuse, especially in the case of items or materials which are not use in the field of healthcare (paper glass, cardboard, containers, plastic wraps).
The Risks Associated With Disposal Of Medical Waste
If not properly handled Medical waste could cause health hazards to health experts, garbage workers and the general population.
For instance when needles are accidentally take to recycling facilities or containers explode during transport, we may be expose to needles and illnesses. Additionally, sharps force into plastic baggies, placing the health of housekeepers and janitors in danger.
In Conclusion
Healthcare professionals face a significant problem due to the numerous regulatory agencies, diverse dangers, and different kinds of clinical waste management. So, it’s often essential to choose an experienced supplier.
We ensure that the influence of management is not detrimental to the patients, the hospital’s environment or the surrounding environment.
