Suction canisters vs. suction bags: modernizing medical fluid waste disposal

The means to modernize ways of disposing of infectious fluid hospital waste have progressed in leaps in recent years. Many healthcare facility leaders are unaware of how antiquated and potentially hazardous their current protocols are for disposing of infectious fluid hospital waste especially from canister cases. First, manual assembly of the suction canisters on-site takes time and is prone to human error.  Then, fluid hospital waste disposal is typically done by manually opening the canisters and pouring the contents down the drain, exposing staff to contamination risk. Another common but extremely expensive practice is to dispose entire canisters of fluids as infectious hospital waste.

These methods have shown to create unnecessary costs associated with expensive hospital waste disposal. In addition, the practice of opening canisters and pouring waste down the drain unnecessarily exposes staff to infections.  

The Serres solution provides a much needed update to these practices that benefits healthcare facilities in multiple ways:

• Eliminate airborne and splash exposure with a closed system 
• Simplify connections to eliminate spills and leaks 
• Reduce error and get started faster with one-time set-up 
• Reduce waste to lower cost per case 
• Reduce cost by optimizing shipping and storage 
• Reduce environmental footprint by reducing waste 

The Serres solution addresses the importance of a closed, end-to-end system that improves safety and efficiency, as well as reduces infection risk for both patients and staff. The Serres Nemo fluid hospital waste disposal equipment for Serres suction bags allows healthcare facility staff to completely avoid the process of opening fluid waste canisters and pouring waste down the drain.  

With the stringent regulations surrounding the disposal of fluid hospital waste, cost of disposal can be extremely high. According to estimates, infectious hospital waste costs 10-15 times more than standard waste. Most healthcare facilities are unaware that new best practices exist to drastically reduce costs associated with disposing surgical fluid waste. 

To learn more about how to improve safety and sustainability while reducing waste cost, get in touch with our team.