|
This is a full transcript of the online presentation. For the
presentation itself, go here. Presented
by:
Edith Coulter, MPH
Environmental Administrator
Division of Environmental Health
Contact Number: 850-245-4444 Ext. 2335
Hello my name is Edith Coulter
Im an
Environmental Health program consultant, with the Florida Department of
Health. My responsibilities include the safe management of biomedical waste
in the state of Florida.
What is biomedical waste? Biomedical waste is identified as any liquid
or solid waste that may pose a threat of infection to humans. We can
basically classify medical waste in two general ways: sharps and non
sharps.
Sharps are defined as objects that are capable of puncturing,
lacerating, or otherwise penetrating the skin. Some examples of sharps
include: needles, scalpels, broken glass, or plastic. These items are
required to be packaged in hard sharps containers that are designed
primarily for this purpose.
Non sharps include liquid absorbent materials and non absorbent materials.
Liquid biomedical waste includes: blood, blood products, and other body
fluids that we know transmit infectious diseases. Absorbent materials
include: gauze, cloth, cotton items such as this that have an absorbency that and they are saturated with blood or
one of the other potentially infectious body fluids. Non absorbent
materials include impact glass or plastic and some examples of these would
be: vials, syringes without needles, or plastic IV tubing. Non sharps are
required to be packaged in approved red bags. By approved we mean that they
meet certain construction standards that are set forth in the Department of
Health regulations for biomedical waste management.
Approximately 30,000 biomedical waste facilities in the state of Florida manage approximately
50,000 tons of biomedical waste on an annual basis. The generators are the
facilities where the biomedical waste is actually produced, examples would
be: hospitals, clinics, laboratories. Transporters are registered with the
department to transport the waste from the generating facility to a storage or treatment facility. The storage facilities
are just interim facilities that may store the waste for 30 days until its
treated by permitted by medical waste facility.
Lets talk a minute about the hazard potential
for biomedical waste. We have regulations for management because if
biomedical waste is improperly managed, either unintentionally or
intentionally, it places healthcare workers, sanitation workers, and the
general public at risk for exposure to infectious diseases that can be
present in the blood or body fluids.
What are the risk of biomedical waste events.
Well, for unintentional events the department ensures that we limit those,
prevent or limit those by insuring safe management of biomedical waste.
That means that we identify and segregate it at the point of origin, we
have requirements for special packaging and labeling; which protect and
identify the contents. We have specific requirements for proper transportation
and storage of the waste. And then we, the Department of Health has responsibilities too ensure proper treatment by
steam sterilization or other alternative treatment methods that the
department approves. And then we have responsibilities to ensure that there
is a emergency response procedure to prevent
unintentional exposures.
An example of a plan that the Department of Health developed to prevent
unintentional exposures in an emergency response event is Operation
Vaccinate Florida.
This was the program where smallpox vaccine was distributed to hospital
response teams and county health department personnel. It was distributed
to first responders such as law enforcement officers firefighting emergency
medical crews.
The general population perceives the danger from smallpox vaccine to be
even greater than that, of typical biomedical waste. And that made the
development of a plan very delicate. It was a much more conservative plan
of biomedical waste because of the heightened perception and concern of the
general public. There were no reports of unintentional exposure during
Operation Vaccinate Florida.
It is important to be able to handle this security level for as long as it
takes during some sort of an emergency response event. The theft of any untreated
biomedical waste could contribute to a bioterrorism event, by the release
of the pathogens contained in the waste into the general population.
In conclusion lets remember that biomedical waste is broken down into
two basic categories, sharps and non sharps. Both are generated throughout
the state Florida,
and any of these can pose a risk of infection to human beings. Operation
Vaccinate Florida
is a good model for implementing security to address biomedical waste even
beyond what we normally do. Thank
you for your time, I trust this was helpful to you. Please let me know if I
may answer any questions or provide more information.
| 
