Since its inception, the healthcare community has come a long way and is advancing at a rapid pace than ever before, mainly in providing better patient care quality. One area where it has made massive strides is disposable medical products. Medical disposables can do more good for patients’ safety that you might have imagined, and have a positive impact on the environment as well. One great example of a medical disposable is the auto-disable syringe.
What is an Auto-Disable Syringe?
In the good old medical days, doctors and nurses would use and reuse syringes a lot of times over its lifetime, and on a number of patients. Moreover, back in the day, medical instruments weren’t easy to manufacture and were a lot expensive than they are today. This lack of accessibility was the main reason why hospitals had to invest money and time into maintaining the syringes and needles for reuse. The maintenance usually involved sterilisation and sharpening of syringes and needles to keep them in tip-top condition.
However, some hospitals fell to the wayside when it came to syringe hygiene, which led to cross-contamination and spread of many diseases. To curb these risks, Auto-Disable syringes were introduced. These syringes allow doctors to use them only once, after which they need to be disposed off, thereby reducing the chances of contamination. Moreover, the Auto-Disable syringe mechanism includes a contraption which locks the plunger or breaks it, making the entire syringe inoperable for reuse.
Why have hospitals been switching to Auto-Disable syringes?
Given the increasing safety standards and the need to provide quality patient care, the first and foremost reason for the syringe’s widespread adoption is sterilisation. With it, medical staff and doctor’s no longer have to worry about spending resources to sterilise since it can only be used once. This functionality prohibits any cross-contamination and allows hospitals to provide safe patient care.
The outdated design of traditional needles sometimes led to wastage of both the patient’s blood and the medication about to be administered. However, the fixed-needle design of Auto-Disable syringes eliminates any wastage and prohibits the entry of air bubbles into the syringe.
Another reason why AD syringes are widely used is that they are considerably less expensive than traditional needles. There is no need to incur additional expenses related to needle sharpening. Moreover, the resources that are saved by purchasing these syringes can be utilised elsewhere, preferably in enhancing patient care. Also, since they are relatively inexpensive, it wouldn’t put a dent in your finances if they break or get lost before use.
Lastly, with proper disposal, these syringes prove safer for the environment.
In Summary
Reuse of medical equipment such as syringes and needles are the number one cause of cross-contamination during injection or immunisation. Fortunately, such infectious reuse can be prevented by the locking mechanism that an Auto-Disable syringe uses, which breaks it or locks it after one use. Due to this functionality, hospitals find it particularly enticing since it’s light on the pockets and can be used in mass immunisation and vaccination programmes.
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