2 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
Yes, operating rooms generate a lot of waste, but sometimes that refuse can serve a use-
ful second purpose before it reaches the landfill. Follow these 4 reader-submitted tips to
stretch your supply budgets and to make post-op waste work for you.
— Compiled by David Bernard
• Blue wrap goes green. If your
OR team rejects a tray while set-
ting up a room because the pack-
aging was torn, or sends back a
loaner tray that wasn't used and
wasn't exposed to patients, save
the clean, uncontaminated blue
wrap it came in to line your stor-
age room shelves. This can help to
prevent tears in other blue-
wrapped trays, saving you the trouble and expense of rewrapping them. If you've already
lined all your shelves, blue wrap can also be repurposed for packing and shipping, or donat-
ed to local animal shelters for cage liners.
• Protect the pedals. Once you've set out all the contents
of a procedure pack, save the plastic bag it came in to
cover your equipment's foot pedals during arthroscopies
and other fluid-intensive procedures. That keeps them dry,
which makes cleanup easier, and protects your OR acces-
sories, saving you the cost of repairs.
Repurposed Supplies Get a Second Life
Innovative
Ideas
Ideas Work
That
