Infection control specialist, DDC Dolphin, has launched ‘an advanced and inexpensive’ new waste disposal system for hospital and care home use.
The Vacumatic system is designed to enable clinicians and carers to dispose of medical pulp bedpans and other waste ‘quickly, safely, and discreetly’. It seals infectious waste hermetically ‘without the risks associated with normal yellow bags’. There are ‘four simple steps’:
- Step 1 – The carer places the used incontinence product, bedpan, face mask, apron, or gloves, in an airtight Vacumatic bag held securely in a mobile trolley, opening the bag each time using a foot pedal. When the foot pedal is released, the bag closes.
- Step 2 – Before moving to the next patient/resident, the carer removes their gloves, places them in the bag, and disinfects their hands using sanitiser gel from a dispenser mounted on the trolley.
- Step 3 – When the bag is full, the carer removes it from the trolley and places the sealed opening in the top of the main mobile Vacumatic unit. Its hinged lid opens hands-free.
- Step 4 – The hinged lid closes automatically on the top of the bag. Vacumatic sucks all the air out of the bag, and it is then passed through both an active carbon filter to eliminate odours, and a certified bacteria filter that removes all particles larger than two microns in size (this includes viruses).
Benefits include:
- Lower infection risk;
- ‘No more bad smells from exposed waste’;
- Reduced clinician workload;
- Improved efficiency of available resources, including staff;
- The vacuum-packed bags reduce waste volume.
