Clinical safety comes of age with the devising of a new equipment to dispose of all infected "sharps"
ALL over the world, thousands of hypodermic syringes are used daily in hospitals and then disposed of. But whether
they are disposed of safely - given the
risks of injury, and perhaps infection -
it is not easy to tell. Needles which are
often placed in a "sharps" box or bin,
requires to be replaced every couple of
days to prevent snowballing of contammation. Usually, the bins are removed
for disposal by means of incineration.
To reduce this kind of needlestick
injury, a us company, Healthcare
Products Plus, has introduced the
Needlyzer - an instrument about
the size and shape of a shoe box -
which eliminates needles immediately
after use.
The top of the
box has a hole
through which the
needles are pushed
in, where they complete the circuit
between two electrodes. They are then
vaporised almost
instantly as they
heat up to a temperature of 1,500-c. A
residue of oxides
is only left as the
high temperature
destroys any kind of
contamination.
vapours produced through filters in a
disposable cartridge which also stores
the oxidised needles. The manufacturers claim that only a harmless dust -
easily disposable - is left over.
Stephen Schey, director, Clinical
Racmatology at Guy's Hospital,
London, says, "A fifth of needlestick
injuries occur away from the place
where the needle was used." He -asserts,
"This would prevent accidents which
are a serious problem. If you don't
know where the needle has come from,
it is very difficult to counsel the victim
about the possible risks." And these
could even include hepatitis or HIV
patients.
A fan draws the
A large hospital
may well be able to
spend a large sum by
having a disposal contractor clean up their
scraps. This would
include disposal of
scalpels and other
sharp instruments,
too.
But Schey says
that the Needlyzer is a
very simple piece of
equipment. "I think it
would be easy to identify sites where there
would be cost benefits
from introducing it",
he maintains.
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