Red Bag Trash

[NEKEMT]

Does anybody work for a service that has policies in place about "common trash" being placed in Red bags?

I am trying to reduce the amount of common trash getting thrown away improperly at the service I work for. My thought is to put a trash can in place for common trash. My boss is fearfull that contaminated trash will be placed in the common trash.

Any help would be great!

 

[akflightmedic]

Policies??

Common sense dictates trash separation. We always had 2 cans on our units, one red and one normal.

If it is dripping wet or saturated it goes red. Anything else, regular trash...

Since your service and most services get rid of their hospital waste and pay by the pound it makes GREAT financial sense to educate your staff on the cost savings and what constitutes bio and what is normal.

 

[Sassafras]

we have separate bins at the station but only one in the rigs. Everything wasted on the ambulance is directly related to patient care and gets dropped off at the hospital EMS room. Every hospital here has an EMS room where we can collect and discard linens and trash and the nicer facilities have snacks for us LOL. Given we tend to keep them on truck for long days of no eats when OUR sugars feel like they are bottoming out.

 

[lightsandsirens5]

Same here. Anything dripping goobies goes into the red bag. Everything else, regular garbage. I'd say 90% of the garbage from the amb goes in normal garbage. And because we pay by the pound, the boss has educated all crews on "how to dispose of ambulance garbage." ^_^

 

[NEKEMT]

I here what you guys are saying and I strongly agree with you but my boss is afraid of implementing something without evidence backing it.

 

[lightsandsirens5]

I here what you guys are saying and I strongly agree with you but my boss is afraid of implementing something without evidence backing it.

Well, just suggest he go over it on one of the in-service trainings or something. Then whenever new people show up, it is easy to cover during orientation.

Just a simple "hey, here's what's up, here's what needs to be done and here's why." Worked perfectly for us.

 

[akflightmedic]

I here what you guys are saying and I strongly agree with you but my boss is afraid of implementing something without evidence backing it.

What evidence are you looking for?

Check the OSHA regs, google any bio waste policy...there are plenty on line.

He is afraid to put two trashcans in a unit, one for drippy or saturated products and one for everything else??? This is what most everyone does....

As long as you are not putting needles or blood/body fluid saturated drippy items in the regular trash, there is no issue.

 

[LonghornMedic]

We have two cans. One is the bio red bag in the patient compartment. The other is a regular trash can located behind the drivers seat for all regular trash(i.e. food, paper, etc.)

 

[medicRob]

Does anybody work for a service that has policies in place about "common trash" being placed in Red bags?

I am trying to reduce the amount of common trash getting thrown away improperly at the service I work for. My thought is to put a trash can in place for common trash. My boss is fearfull that contaminated trash will be placed in the common trash.

Any help would be great!

All of the services/hospitals that I am associated with get charged by the lb for medical waste. Whenever I discontinue a non-medicated drip, I will usually throw the catheter and the tubing in the bio trash and the actual bag in the regular trash.

 

[Dominion]

I'm just going to say my service is just one big OSHA violation....not just on trash. We have a red bin but we get scolded if we put anyhting other than sharps in it.

 

[JPINFV]

I'm just going to say my service is just one big OSHA violation....not just on trash. We have a red bin but we get scolded if we put anyhting other than sharps in it.

You guys get A BIN? At both companies I worked for wejust have a handful of red bags in a cabinet that we have to pull out if we actually needed it.

 

[94H]

We have one bin which is all "red bag" and a sharps container

At our hospital theres a few huge red bag containers and we just chuck everything in there.

Cost to us $0

 

[akflightmedic]

We have two cans. One is the bio red bag in the patient compartment. The other is a regular trash can located behind the drivers seat for all regular trash(i.e. food, paper, etc.)

FOOD??!!! In the ambulance?? Do not ever let a safety or OSHA investigator hear or see that...just sayin. There was a topic a while back about food and drinks in the truck.

I know what we do and what we are supposed to do dont always jive, but at least be educated about what is right and wrong.

 

[akflightmedic]

We have one bin which is all "red bag" and a sharps container

At our hospital theres a few huge red bag containers and we just chuck everything in there.

Cost to us $0

Are you absolutely positive that the hospital assumes the cost of handling all your companies waste? They do this completely for free?

You may not be aware but there may be a surcharge that the county or service gets billed quarterly or annually for but very rarely does someone willingly assume the risk of receiving and disposing of someone else's waste for free.

 

[LonghornMedic]

FOOD??!!! In the ambulance?? Do not ever let a safety or OSHA investigator hear or see that...just sayin. There was a topic a while back about food and drinks in the truck.

I know what we do and what we are supposed to do dont always jive, but at least be educated about what is right and wrong.

The OSHA requirements are as followed- "No food, drink, smoking, application of cosmetics, or handling of contact lenses is permitted in any Patient Care Area." So food can be eaten in the front drivers cab, just not in the back of the box. That's why there's a trash can behind the drivers seat in the front cab. A compnay I once worked for underwent CAAS Accreditation twice and they told us the same thing as I typed above.

 

[akflightmedic]

The OSHA requirements are as followed- "No food, drink, smoking, application of cosmetics, or handling of contact lenses is permitted in any Patient Care Area." So food can be eaten in the front drivers cab, just not in the back of the box. That's why there's a trash can behind the drivers seat in the front cab. A compnay I once worked for underwent CAAS Accreditation twice and they told us the same thing as I typed above.

Read the thread on eating in an ambulance followed by a microbiology course and then come back with a valid argument for this practice.....just sayin.

 

[Dominion]

Read the thread on eating in an ambulance followed by a microbiology course and then come back with a valid argument for this practice.....just sayin.

This is going to be anywhere you want to eat. Yes an ambulance will have a high occurrence of this but really if you think about it to be completely safe your company should have a room where no one is allowed to enter in uniform and you need to take your uniform off to eat. Also remember some people don't have a choice, the service that runs primary 911 for my city station in their trucks and run nearly non-stop, many days eating in the truck is the difference between eating and not eating.

 

[akflightmedic]

I am well aware of reality and the "rules"...just stimulating some good discussion and maybe some controversy. Got to poke the snake with a stick every now and then to keep it interesting!

 

[lightsandsirens5]

I am well aware of reality and the "rules"...just stimulating some good discussion and maybe some controversy. Got to poke the snake with a stick every now and then to keep it interesting!

I like you......^_^

 

[JPINFV]

Read the thread on eating in an ambulance followed by a microbiology course and then come back with a valid argument for this practice.....just sayin.

[sarcasm]
My B cells need nourishment too, and it's extra protein!
[/sarcasm]