The MWTA (Medical Waste Tracking Act), which was created in 1988, necessitates that any waste that has been in contact with a pathogen or a potential pathogen should be classified and treated as West Palm Beach medical waste. This, of course, includes proper medical waste disposal procedures.
To have a better understanding of medical waste management, one must first be aware of what this type of waste includes. Medical waste involves body fluids and blood, human body organs, parts and tissue, animal waste (but only if they are infected by a pathogen which can also attack humans), sharps waste (needles, syringes, scalpels, scissors and other medical instruments contaminated with blood or bodily fluids), laboratory equipment (Petri dishes, vials, flasks, etc) contaminated by biological material and any other material that was exposed to infectious blood or bodily fluids (hospital sheets, pillows, gowns, surgical gloves, gauzes, bandages and so on).
The majority of medical waste originates from medical care facilities such as hospitals and clinics and as such they hold the greatest level of responsibility of making sure that their medical waste disposal procedures are keeping the people and the environment safe from infections. For this, health care facilities must have a clear and concise medical waste management West Palm Beach.
Medical Waste Disposal Procedure Explained
Medical waste disposal, just like any other aspect of medical waste management West Palm Beach, is not something that is done ad hoc and without a good plan. Too many health care facilities are disposing of medical waste in wrong ways, even ways that are dangerous to human health and the ecosystem. Not all of them of course, are doing this with knowing intention (although there are many instances of this criminal behavior as well). This is why it is important to fully understand the correct medical waste disposal procedure and avoid not only penalties that you could bring upon yourself (which can go up to $100,000 if they result in someone’s death), but also in order to do your part in keeping the community safe from infections.
1. All medical waste should be placed in its designated container or bag immediately after it is produced. For example, when a surgeon takes of his blood-soaked gloves, his assistant or other junior member of the staff should immediately place those same gloves, as well as any other piece of contaminated equipment into a red biohazard bag. The same goes for the scalpels and scissors a surgeon has been using on the patient, with the exception that this kind of medical waste is first placed into a durable container (usually made of hard plastic) and then in a bag.
2. Once the bag or the container is full it should be disposed of. The person responsible for medical waste should in addition make sure that medical waste respectables are not overfilled. There are several ways medic waste disposal is done and you should choose the method that suits your health care facility the most according to the amount and type of medical waste you produce, but also according to the local, state and federal medical waste management West Palm Beach laws.
3. Once you have medical waste stored in a secure area where it will not pose a hazard threat to the community, you should contact a professional medical waste disposal company from your area to come and pick up the waste from your facility. They will then come with special vehicles to take the waste you generated and drive it to their own facility where they will destroy it. Most medical waste disposal agencies use large incinerators to destroy solid medical wastes, as this method is both effective and cost-efficient. Some medical waste management companies prefer the use of landfills, but you should make sure that they are treating waste properly before sending it to the landfill. There are a number of medical waste treatment options, but the most commonly used and likely the most effective is autoclaving or steam sterilization. Also if the medical waste disposal company is using landfills to dispose of waste, you should make sure that these are not general landfills, but those designed only for West Palm Beach medical waste.
