Medical Waste Disposal Oklahoma City, OK

Oklahoma City hospitals are bound by the Oklahoma State Department of Health hospital standards. This broad set of regulations ensures that each hospital has an infection control policy in order to maintain a sanitary environment and avoid sources and transmission of infections. Hospital programs must include written policies and procedures for identifying and reporting all infections among patients and staff. They must include procedures to ensure that isolation and sanitation techniques are reviewed and kept up to date. All hospital personnel must be trained in infection control practices and their training documented.

The standards also require that the infection control program include specific policies related to the handling of biohazard waste disposal. Although no specific guidance is provided, the state operates under the federal OSHA program.

Managing your medical waste in Oklahoma can be confusing because healthcare facilities are not required to obtain a Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) permit and are not subject to DEQ storage requirements. However, OSHA storage requirements do apply and specify requirements for management of sharps, storage containers the correct use labels and bags.

The rules for regulated medical waste processing facilities are different, and much stricter. Processing facilities are required to hold an Oklahoma DEQ permit and are bound by much stricter storage, treatment and processing requirements than healthcare facilities, such as a 24 hour timeframe for processing or refrigerating waste following its delivery. These stricter requirements make the medical waste disposal process far more complex, and as a result, far more expensive. It is for this reason that many Oklahoma City healthcare facilities, including veterinary clinics and funeral homes, choose to use a medical waste disposal company to fulfill their biohazard waste disposal needs.

Individuals generating household levels of waste (60 pounds per month or less) may use the municipal solid waste (regular trash), but should take steps to ensure the waste does not pose a risk to handlers of the waste. For example, sealing used sharps in a puncture proof containers to ensure waste handlers are not stabbed.

In early 2015, a disturbing discovery of syringes, needles and vials of blood washed up on to the shore along the Arkansas River. The medical waste had been found scattered on various banks between Ralston and Cleveland, and the biohazardous material may have come from a Tulsa hospital. Incidents like these highlight the need treat and dispose of medical waste properly to ensure it no longer poses a risk to the environment or local population.

Regulated medical waste must be treated using one of the following methods:

• 1

  Incineration

  in an incinerator that is designed for the destruction of regulated medical waste. Incinerators use extremely high temperatures to kill bacteria. At such high temperatures, no bacteria are able to survive and the items are deemed safe for recycling or disposal.

• 2

  Microwave sterilization

  or steam sterilization, use high temperature and pressure to achieve microbial inactivation.

• 3

  Chemical disinfection

  where contact time, concentration and quantity of the disinfectant are sufficient to consistently achieve microbial inactivation.

Incinerators are almost always required for the destruction of pathological waste, but they are large and expensive pieces of equipment. In Oklahoma City two or more nearby hospitals may share incinerators, but healthcare facilities usually make arrangements with licensed medical waste disposal companies who collect the waste and take it away for disposal.

Medical waste disposal is not an easy job, but here at MedPro Disposal, Oklahoma City, it’s what we do. We can provide you with a flexible pick-up and disposal schedule that is customized to your needs. We offer a reliable, yet low cost alternative to other companies and our specialist disposal experts will never sign you up for more services than you need.

Proper waste disposal can be a stressful concern, but it doesn’t need to be. Our reputation in OKC has been built on our dependable customer service and we will work with your organization to create a customized plan that will relieve you of this worry. Our OSHA employee training will make sure your staff know what they are doing and ensure waste is disposed of safely at your facilities. Whatever your requirements, MedPro Disposal is ready to deliver.

Oklahoma City was settled on April 22, 1889, when the area known as the "Unassigned Lands" was opened for settlement in an event known as "The Land Run". Some 10,000 homesteaders settled the area that would become the capital of Oklahoma. The town grew quickly; the population doubled between 1890 and 1900. Early leaders of the development of the city included Anton Classen, John Shartel, Henry Overholser and James W. Maney.