October 1, 2014

"US hospitals 'unprepared' to safely handle infectious Ebola waste"

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/24/us-hospital-ebola-waste-handle
US hospitals may be unprepared to safely dispose of the infectious waste generated by any Ebola virus disease patient to arrive unannounced in the country, potentially putting the wider community at risk, biosafety experts said.

Waste management companies are refusing to haul away the soiled sheets and virus-spattered protective gear associated with treating the disease, citing federal guidelines that require Ebola-related waste to be handled in special packaging by people with hazardous materials training, infectious disease and biosafety experts told Reuters.


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“At its peak, we were up to 40 bags a day of medical waste, which took a huge tax on our waste management system,” Emory’s Dr Aneesh Mehta told colleagues at a medical meeting earlier this month.

Emory sent staff to Home Depot to buy as many 32-gallon rubber waste containers with lids that they could get their hands on. Emory kept the waste in a special containment area for six days until its Atlanta neighbor, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, helped broker an agreement with Stericycle.



Note: this report is from a week ago, so very recent but before the person in Dallas was diagnosed.

Home Depot run for hazardous waste containment gear?

I hope this issue gets addressed quickly as a known nationwide policy because it will be an important component of control here.