The Red Bags October Blog Round Up – October 2018

ICYMI: amputated body parts, health literacy month, world hospice care and more…

Here’s what you missed on the Red Bags blog this month…

All About Health Literacy

Health Literacy Month is a time for organizations and individuals to promote the importance of understandable health information. This also includes medical waste disposal practices, and the best way to ensure compliance is to understand all the medical waste disposal agencies and how each one plays an important role in community, staff, patient, and environmental safety. 

What do OSHA, EPA, DOT, and CDC mean to you? Here’s what you missed on the ABCs of medical waste. 

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day

According to the World Health Organization, the total amount of waste generated by healthcare related services that is general waste is about 80 percent, whereas 20 percent is considered hazardous material that could be infectious. The largest source of healthcare-related waste is, of course, hospitals, but assisted living and hospice care facilities are a close second. 

Red Bags is proud to support the efforts of hospice and palliative care staff. Here’s how. 

Amputated Body Parts?

While you may be familiar with sharps waste and red bag waste, what happens with amputated body parts once they are removed in a medical setting? Hospitals have different rules about how long to keep the specimen, in case the pathologist wants to see something else, but they’re not kept forever. So, what happens to these body parts once they’re no longer needed? It depends on the state, but we have the 411 on this rather interesting medical waste mystery.

Missing out on all things medical waste? Stay up to date on medical waste regulations and news by subscribing to the Red Bags blog.

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