From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris) Newsgroups: sci.med Subject: Re: needle disposal Date: 14 Mar 1999 16:57:52 GMT In <36EBCA37.28F81AB6@gw-tech.com> Carey Gregory <cgregory@gw-tech.com> writes: > >Shapere wrote: >> >> Thanks, everyone. (Carey: I think the world would be a duller place >> without wacky, difficult, expensive ideas where simple, cheap ones >> would suffice.) > >Well, it's gratifying to know I helped make the world a more interesting >place. > >> Does anyone have any particular opinions as to whether I should dump >> the syringes in this plastic container as well as the needles? (They >> aren't actually being used to inject anything, just to draw solution >> out of the ampuls.) > >Disassembling syringes is a good way to get stuck... not the end of the >world since it's only been in an ampule, but painful. > >-- >Carey Gregory It also happens to be the law that you have to put the used syringes in the hard needle trap, even those that have never had a needle on them, like blood gas syringes you've drawn from stopcock A-line port. The reason is that the government really doesn't want to be separating needles from syringes, since that's a major source of danger, and there's no way to make sure you're complying if they give you an exception for syringes which have never had needles. It's also a handy way for the disposal people to keep extra track of syringes, so they don't wind up on a beach somewhere and scare the public. I don't know what will happen to this in the future. If you've seen the new Baxter system, you know that within 5 years it will be pretty ucommon to see a needle used in medicine except the express purpose of piercing the skin. At that point, the syringe to needle ratio will go way up, and they may change things so you can put syringes from needless systems in other containers. Steve Harris, M.D. From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris) Newsgroups: sci.med Subject: Re: needle disposal Date: 16 Mar 1999 03:14:58 GMT In <19990315050741.23086.00000521@ngol08.aol.com> shapere@aol.comicrelief (Shapere) writes: >In article <7cgpqg$dob@dfw-ixnews11.ix.netcom.com>, >sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris) writes: > >>I don't know what will happen to this in the future. If you've seen >>the new Baxter system, you know that within 5 years it will be pretty >>ucommon to see a needle used in medicine except the express purpose of >>piercing the skin. > >I haven't heard of this - do tell? It's a needleless system. If you want to plug one IV line into another, you just plug a male cap into a female fitting, a bit like those garden hose connectors. And it seals when disconnected. >The syringes I have used (I've been experimenting with a couple different >types) have detachable needles that are easy to remove without poking >oneself. No such thing. If you've got a needle, there's a way to poke yourself. Somebody WILL poke themselves. >(This is good since I have to squirt the stuff in my nose from the >syringe!) I haven't actually drawn any blood with a needle (yet); the >broken ampuls seem to be the dangerous part of the system. (Is there some >special technique to getting those things open that I don't know about?) > >-elizabeth Other than wrapping them in a hankerchief, the only one I know of is the old chemistry glass tubing break trick, which is to file a tiny notch at the intended break point with a good sharp diamond triangular file. When you break, put pressure on the stem so that this part is away from you (at the point with the stretching stress on bending). From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris) Newsgroups: sci.med Subject: Re: needle disposal Date: 17 Mar 1999 07:31:45 GMT In <19990316232627.14990.00000168@ngol02.aol.com> shapere@aol.comicrelief (Shapere) writes: >In article <7ckibi$3e1@sjx-ixn9.ix.netcom.com>, sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven >B. Harris) writes: > >>>The syringes I have used (I've been experimenting with a couple >>>different types) have detachable needles that are easy to remove >>>without poking oneself. >> >> No such thing. If you've got a needle, there's a way to poke >>yourself. Somebody WILL poke themselves. > >I didn't say it's *impossible* to poke yourself, I said it is easy not to! > >-elizabeth It's easy not to with any needle. You just have to know how to do it. Can you see how silly this discussion is? |