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Medical waste management Miami Beach constitutes of treatment, storage, transportation and disposal of different kinds of waste material generated by hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and other health care facilities. One particular type of waste that demands serious attention in medical waste removal are sharps.
Sharps are discarded medical instruments utilized in treating and diagnosing patients. They (sharps) include objects that can puncture or cut human or animal skin and tissue with relative ease, With this “ability”, sharps are understandably dangerous to those responsible for handling medical waste in the hospital, but that is not all that makes this waste demanding of attention.
Instruments that fall under the category “sharps” include, although they are not limited to, the following: needles, syringes, razor blades, lancets, broken glass. These need to be disposed right after they are used. To do otherwise would mean endangering the staff and the following patients with an infectious disease a previous patient had in his or her blood.
It is also a mistake to assume that sharps constitute of only instruments used to puncture and lacerate the skin. Anything that is attached to them is also considered as sharps. This can be, for example, a tube or Vacutainer. If such is attached to the syringe, they should be treated together as one unit, regardless of the fact that the attachment does not posses the ability to lacerate or puncture the skin.
Glass and plastic are also often considered as sharps waste, but only if they have been contaminated with biohazardous products. In that case, medical waste management in Miami Beach demand that glass and plastic waste is treated and disposed of in the same manner as needles and blades. Broken glass that is known not to be contaminated is still considered as sharp waste, but since it does not pose the same risk for public health, it doesn’t need to be handled as delicately.
Biggest Dangers Involved with Sharps Waste
The biggest threat from sharps comes from injuries. This can pose a great public health problem. As these instruments are designed with the purpose of piercing or cutting the skin, there is also the danger of this waste spreading blood-borne pathogens and diseases such as HCV (Hepatitis C), HBV (Hepatitis B) and HIV. Thus, improper medical waste management in regards to sharps greatly puts doctors to the risk of “catching” one of these diseases when they handle sharps.
In addition to doctors, surgeons and other medical personnel, general population is also at risk of injuries from sharp waste. Because of this, sharps have to be carefully separated from regular waste, or people may come in contact with them.
Additionally, if Miami Beach medical waste removal of sharps is not executed properly, there is also the risk of sharps later finding their way back in use. Although they can be recycled, this is still much different from putting them back “out there” to be used on new patients, likely without even a proper disinfection.
