There’s stuff an autoclave doesn’t kill, like prion disease.
I’m pretty sure they have enough things-that-can-be-used-as-gowns that can be washed and autoclaved. Gloves that are thin enough to let you feel what you are doing aren’t very sturdy – disposable is better. Existing masks actually CAN be thrown in the the autoclave, and I believe a lot of hospitals are doing that, now, but they (like all things that rely on filtration) get clogged over time, and they can’t really be -cleaned-. Throwing them away, and not handling contaminated stuff any more than needed, really is safest for everyone.
Well if it were economical to reuse PPE, hospitals already would be. Clearly the invisible hand of the free market has guided hospitals to single use equipment. It’s also likely that operating high volume autoclaves in every hospital in America is actually worse for the environment - - might not be, but these things are almost never that simple.
But the most ridiculous thing about Urbanredneck’s question is that it comes from him. Who’s going to make these hospitals invest in reusable gear when it’s obviously more efficient to just chuck it after every use? The government? With big government regulations? And if so, then how does he rational blaming the hospitals, who, as free market actors, are simply operating in their own rational best interests?
Sterilizing is expensive, requires time, labor, and compliance with safety protocols, and requires stringent quality controls. Gloves, gowns, and masks do not withstand the process. I don’t have the numbers but I would be surprised if the energy and materials used to sterilize were not significantly more environmentally costly than using disposables and it clearly costs more to properly sterilize than to use single use disposables for many items.
Can’t quote ishmael.
There is a ban on political commentary in this forum, so answering your question is walking a fine line.
To imply that the medical profession relying on single use items has come back to bite us is to ignore things that had a drastic effect on the seriousness of this situation. Ask your question in another forum, if you’d be so kind.
[li] Many politicians, including the chancellor, are mooting the idea of making use of the Red Cross’s coronavirus app a legal requirement. This app, when installed on a smartphone, monitors your movements and, if you are subsequently registered as testing positive for the coronavirus, automatically informs all other users of the app that you were physically near so that they can get themselves tested.[/li]
While well-intentioned, this proposal has significant security, privacy, and practical problems. For one thing, the app is proprietary software, making it impossible for users to independently verify that it is safe to use and does (no more than) what is claimed. Another problem is that not everyone in Austria has a smartphone capable of running the app; in fact, there are two million people in the country without any smartphone at all. The chancellor has suggested that an alternative would be to issue such people with a keyfob device with the same functionality as the app. Of course, this doesn’t solve the security and privacy issues, and presents practical problems of its own. (How is the government going to source and distribute 2 million keyfob devices on such short notice?)
[li] The rules on gatherings of people have been very slightly relaxed. Up to 10 people may now attend funerals, and up to 5 people may now attend weddings. And it will be permitted to host a small family gathering in your home on Easter Monday, with up to five guests.[/li]
[li] The country’s major supermarket chains have agreed amongst themselves that as of 11 April they will stop selling most non-grocery items (clothing, electronics, furniture, etc.). They did not want to be seen as unfairly competing with non-grocery stores, which have been obliged to remain closed.[/li]
[li] New measures have been introduced to maintain appropriate social distance in Vienna’s markets. One market has had its foot traffic restricted to one direction only. All markets are seeing increased use of police and security staff to enforce social distancing. I do much of my weekend shopping, including today’s, at local markets and in my observation the new measures are not solving the overcrowding.[/li]
[li] The federal and city governments were unable to come to an agreement on the opening of federally operated parks in Vienna (such as the various palace gardens), so these will remain closed. The city has now put up posters in its overcrowded municipal parks urging visitors to keep their distance from one another.[/li]
[li] Good news: the R0 in Austria has sunk to 1.14 (down from around 4). However, the government believes that getting it below 1 will require further measures.[/li]
[li] Current statistics: 11,781 confirmed infections, 186 deaths, 2507 recovered.[/li]
[/ul]
Considering that we ended yesterday with about 277k confirmed infections and we’ve been adding more than 30k per day for a few days now, this shouldn’t surprise anyone.
In restaurants all the aprons get washed, sanitized and reused. Also cloth napkins, towels, and table cloths.
If you have a baby and want to use cloth diapers you can have a diaper service pick up your dirty diapers where they clean, sanitize, and fold them and you then reuse them.
So is it really so far off to think some medical PPE like surgical gowns or masks cannot be properly cleaned, sanitized, and reused?
Kind of. I don’t think anyone is trying to make certain that cloth aprons and diapers are free of viruses, only grease, poo, and other unpleasant stains. Viruses are a lot harder to separate from cloth than poo.
Well in one of the above posts said they are finding some masks and other equipment right out of the box to also have issues.
Look, I’m not slamming or blaming anyone. Its just one piece of a larger puzzle that we have hit a snag on and I wonder if there could have been a backup plan?
The easier back up plan was to have an adequate inventory of maintained pandemic supplies, to monitor for risk of oncoming pandemics, and to ramp up production if needed before it made landfall here. This is not the form to discuss what happened to that plan.
Trying to sterilize and reuse latex and silicone gloves, for example, would not be the back up plan in any circumstance.
For those items you typically also have your skin protecting you from residual buggies. Also, despite the risks of food contamination, food is usually not-that-infectious, whereas people with infectious diseases in hospitals ARE pretty infectious. I’ve never heard of anyone falling ill from standing next to a steak, for instance.
