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01 October 2013

How Medical Waste Florida Is Handled

By Angel Dudley


Medical waste refers to all disposable materials generated in health facilities such as; hospitals, clinics, medical laboratories, research facilities, dental offices, doctors offices, blood banks among other places that offer health care services. The waste can be in form of solid, liquids or sharps and all have a potential of spreading infectious diseases when not properly handled. For this reason, proper management and disposal of medical waste Florida is crucial to prevent spreading of infectious diseases.

In proper management of this kind of materials, the state has provided a strategy that requires all medical centers in the area to separate their different kinds of waste from the point where they are produced to ease their disposal processes. There are thus four categories in which the different disposables are placed and thrown away when full. The categories each have a color scheme to separate one from the other.

First category is referred to as the non infectious waste. This one involves all the garbage from health facilities that are not infectious. Examples of materials disposed off in this group are; food remains, peelings, paper and packaging materials and many other things. The color code for this group is black and whenever a health professional spots a black garbage bag or container anywhere in a hospital, he will immediately know what is in it.

The next group is that of infectious materials. As the name suggests, disposed substances in this category can lead to spread of diseases when not handled well. Among the disposables found in this group are blood, IV fluid lines, wound dressing materials, bandages and many other items used in the facilities. Color code scheme for this group is usually yellow but facilities can decide otherwise.

There is also a category for highly infectious substances. In this classification, the substances are those that have the potential of causing the greatest risk to people when not properly managed. The substances are usually from the human body and may include; teeth, placenta, tissues, amputated parts among other things. All these substances should be well managed by responsible staff and disposed in red containers that are well sealed.

Sharp waste category is the last type and this one contains all the sharp materials used in a facility such as; blades, needles, broken slides, vial, lancets, scalpels among other sharp items. These ones are disposed in injection safety boxes or containers. When the boxes or containers are full, they are sealed off and then disposed.

After proper segregation of the materials for disposal, they are transported to a treatment facility outside the hospital. For this reason, staff handling all these items ought to be properly trained and have approved transport service. There are however some medical facilities that are not in a position to handle their disposables after segregation. Such can hire medical sanitary disposal companies to assist them with this. As for the general garbage, they are usually collected by municipal council of a county.

When thinking of hiring a company to transport the medical sanitary, amenities should ensure to pick an organization that meets all the requirements of the state and have been legalized to offer their services. Proper handling of medical waste Florida ensures that people and their environment are protected. This therefore contributes to a healthy society.




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