# Now I know what an autoclave is....



## hansonb4 (Aug 17, 2014)

and I can't wait to ask my local hospital if it has one when I do my volunteer work tomorrow night. I doubt it does.

U.S. hospitals unprepared to handle Ebola waste | Reuters


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## James m (Mar 11, 2014)

They were attacking red cross aid workers in Africa. They were there to collect bodies for proper burial. But the families wanted to hang onto the bodies for a while longer.


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## Horrorshow (Aug 12, 2014)

I sure hope they do. Autoclaves are used to sterilize the instruments used in surgery and such.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Its a pressure cooker.


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Just about any medical facility, hospital, drs office, dentist, and so will have an autoclave. There are also chemclaves and the easy oven method. Pus due to OSHA rues there are special ways to dispose of medical waste so it is not put in the regular trash.


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## Jeep (Aug 5, 2014)

They all have autoclaves, its mandatory for sterilization


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

When I was the owner operator of a tattoo shop we had a huge one for sterilizing needles and tubes.


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

Believe me all hospitals have autoclaives.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

One hospital I worked at as a paramedic had a unique disposal system for contaminated stuff from the hospital. It was placed on a conveyor belt system and run through 4 giant, super high powered microwave systems to kill off everything. Autoclaves a basically used to disinfect instruments, dressings, bandages, etc. that will come in contact with a patient. Most hospitals collect all their contaminated bandages, bloody stuff, etc in those bright red bags and they are picked up daily by a scavenger service that incinerates it all.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

It's a fascinating article. the amount of hazardous waste accumulated on a daily basis from just 2 patients was staggering. Yes, every hospital has autoclaves to sterilize instruments and equipment, but not many would be able to handle that amount of contaminated linen and disposable waste. I wonder if a local crematorium could be set up for incinerating large volumes if the need became urgent. The material would still have to be handled by specially trained staff in protective gear, but a crematorium could certainly burn the stuff at temperatures that would kill everything.


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## hansonb4 (Aug 17, 2014)

RNprepper said:


> Yes, every hospital has autoclaves to sterilize instruments and equipment, but not many would be able to handle that amount of contaminated linen and disposable waste.


Precisely. You would need a huge one for this. In my volunteer work in the ER, it is staggering the amount of linen, hazardous waste and garbage that is generated with a patient that has, let's say, a cut and requires stitches. Everything from the sheet on the bed, the pillow case, perhaps a gown, a towel or two, maybe a blanket or two from the warmer, trash such as an absorbent pad, gauze, etc....


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