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Autoclaves Helping Stop the Spread of Ebola
As proven by the 2014 Ebola epidemic, medical waste is not only
inevitable, but also can also be harmful to the environment and general
public.
Images of medical workers wearing protective suits and gear from head to toe flooded the internet and news, being described as a necessary protocol to aid in further spread of the disease. But what happened after the suits were removed? Of course they could not be disposed of in the regular trash. So what did happen to the medical waste created during the Ebola outbreak?
In the United States, it was said that one patient could create up to 450 gallons of medical waste every day. This included all disposable medical instruments, protective gear worn by medical professionals, and even bed linens. Although the preferred method of disposing of the waste is through incineration, only six states currently have facilities capable of performing the incineration which would require the shipment of the soiled materials, and would result in more opportunities for contamination to occur.
To combat the growing concern for handling the waste, many medical institutions employed the use of autoclaves to
properly sterilize the contaminated matter. Once this process is complete, the waste can safely be transported to an incineration center without risking the unintentional spread of the harmful pathogens.
Although the risk of Ebola in the United States has dwindled since the original outbreak, there is no telling when the next great medical outbreak will be. It is important for hospitals to be informed and capable of handling the immense amount of waste that will likely be produced with any disease.
