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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 coordination for the management of
biomedical waste in the state of Florida.
Environmental health staff at both the state and
county levels in Florida
have knowledge, training, and experience in the safe management of
potentially infectious waste, and it is essential that they play a role in
the preparation for any event that involves these special wastes. What is being
done by environmental health and by environmental health partners?
We talked about the Department of Health responsibilities in our last
presentation. Some additional responsibilities are covered in a Department
of Health, Department of Environmental Protection memorandum of
understanding that was mandated by the biomedical waste statute. The
Department of Environmental Protection has responsibility for treatment of
biomedical waste by incineration, and their responsibilities also include
management of the final disposal of treated biomedical waste.
The Department of Health, Department of Environmental Protection
memorandum of understanding addresses illegal disposal events. When there
are illegal disposals of biomedical waste the Department of Health, thru
the county health department, is the first responder to that situation to
identify whether the items are indeed biomedical waste. The county health
departments are equipped and trained to remediate small amounts of
biomedical waste. If the amounts of illegally disposed biomedical waste are
large and uncontained the county health department will enlist the
resources from the Department of Environmental Protection to help them
remediate the illegal disposal.
In times of higher threat the Department of Health can initiate a
preparedness program to deal with biomedical waste. Again the Operation
Vaccinate Florida
is an example of a time when the environmental health coordinated
management of sharps and non sharps during a heightened security procedure.
County health departments staffs respond to complaints concerning
biomedical waste. They are trained to identify and equipped to clean up
small amounts of biomedical waste. Emergency situations that are beyond the
scope of management by the county health departments are coordinated with
the Department of Environmental Protections bureau of emergency response.
Lets talk about what you can do to assist in response to events
involving biomedical waste. First of all you can be sure you have resources
you need to prepare you. Be sure you obtain Department of Health,
Department of Environmental Protection flow chart, its found in the
resource library and its a step by step description of remediation process
for illegally disposed biomedical waste. Another excellent resource is a
training video entitled Management of Biomedical Waste and this video is
available from the Department of Health and it details compliance with the
requirements for safe management of biomedical waste.
Be sure you understand the regulations. Read chapters 64e16 of the
Florida Ministrative code and section 381.0098 of
the Florida
statutes. Know where and how you fit in with respect to these guidelines.
Make sure that the generators in your area understand the importance of
following biomedical waste regulations and make sure your area is
performing its routine inspections for compliance.
Be sure you have a copy of the guidebook for Operation Vaccinate Florida. The
policies in that guidebook exceed Florida
standards for biomedical waste transport. If your area went to a higher
level of service would your generator, transporters, and health staff be
ready to respond? Get to know the generators and licensed transporters in
your area in case they need to be called upon during a heightened period,
for example like Vaccinate Florida.
In conclusion in terms of responding to events DOH and DEP have an
agreement where DOH identifies the waste and remediates
small amounts and enlists the services of DEP in large uncontained amounts.
County health departments are the frontlines for any complaints about
biomedical waste. A heightened level of security would require extra
capacity beyond the routine capacity and its important to have the
confidence that facilities in your area could sustain management in an
event that required heightened security. Thank you for you time, I trust
this information was helpful to you. Please let me know if I may answer any
questions or provide more information.
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