At work recently, I was in a place at my time to test, but I had no wash my hands. I would normally just use an alcohol pad, but I had actually run out and forgot to restock my test kit. Luckily, the office I was in was an athletics lab, and the client I was working with offered me some, and he said he had a sharps disposal box for the pad, my strip, and lancet. It was one of the bio waste boxes you always see in doctor offices. This kind of surprised me, and got me to thinking. I have just been disposing of my testing supplies by tossing them into the trash. I never thought I needed a sharp disposal because my lancets are in drums, and aren’t ever really exposed. Any alcohol pads or strips do have my blood on them though. How do you dispose of your used testing supplies? Do you just toss them in the trash, or do you have a bio waste container?
I have a sharps container for things that are actually sharp, but for alcohol pads and strips and lancet drums, which have exactly NO chance of contaminating anyone, why? Paranoia? If dried blood was so dangerous, why aren’t people putting used bandaids in sharps containers?
That’s the way I feel, but I was just curious as to whether I had just missed the memo or something. I think You hit the nail on the head with the band-aid comparison.
A lot depends on your jurisdiction. In many areas, used lancets and strips are OK to put in the regular trash, but used syringes and needles need a bit more attention. For those, you may need to use a hospital needle exchange/disposal system, something like BD’s Sharps By Mail program, or seal the used sharps securely in a labeled, puncture-proof container.
Of course, nothing’s stopping you from being more proactive (paranoid?) about disposing of your lancets… but it’s probably not worth the worry.
Since I am often out and about I have a small plastic box full of clean needles. One for clean lancets. I carry a small bottle of no soap handwash, and a small box for used needles, strips and lancets. I empty the used box every night into my sharps box.
The pads are not so bad (though I do not use them, I just lick! Might as well recycle!) as blood borne diseases do not survive on blood when exposed to the air. These I would put in the trash bin.
You should never put used needles in the trash bin because of the risk of all kinds of diseases and scratches to waste disposal personnel, kids etc. In fact it is illegal.
Just for future reference, you dont need to use alcohol pads on your fingers.
You do need to wash with soap and water, in case you have sugary something or other on your hands but you dont need to use anything else.
This is why I was kind of concerned. I use double-edge razors, and the package they come in always has a slot in the back to put used blades in. Then, you just throw away the whole plastic container. The lancets I use are the Accu-Check Multiclix. There are no actual needles exposed, so I figured it would be fine to toss them, just like the razors.
Here is a picture of the device, and the drums:
http://www.ahns.com.au/images/multiclix_image_only.jpg
I only use the alcohol pads when I don’t have access to soap and water. My job keeps me on call during the day, and I often find myself without easy access to bathroom when it’s time to test. It’s just easier to pull out the kit and use an alcohol wipe rather than go searching for a place to wash hands. I have, however, been making an effort to go find one. I noticed the alcohol was drying out my fingers, and that it’s so much easier to get blood out after I’ve washed with warm water. So, they’re really just for in-a-pinch situations. I have never really considered hand sanitizer as an option just because it doesn’t really take anything off your hands, just kills the bacteria.
Thanks for the advice!
I use old Gatorade bottles (I have a bag of empties that are going on 3 years old as I don’t treat lows w/ little bottles, I use powder…) and put the infusion sets and CGM insertion needles in them and smuggle them into the doctor’s office to ditch in their sharps vat. It adds an element of espionage to my visits. For needles, I’d just bust the needle off and stick it in the barrel and the plunger would secure it and I’d toss them. I don’t worry about strips either.
I use a sharps container for my lancets (also in drums) because I found out if I push on the drum hard, or it gets cracked, the lancets will come out of it. I dispose of my preps and strips in the regular trash. All pump stylet needles and CGM needles go into sharps containers as do the tubing connector ends that have needles on them (MM sets). I do not want to be responsible for anyone’s needle sticks. It is horrible to get stuck at work (I have) and know the source so one can get tested, but it is a whole other devil to get stuck with something that you don’t know who it came from. I don’t want to be responsible for someone’s worry.
Yeah, that’s what I meant to add. I think they do dry things out and make it harder to squeeze that elusive drop out!