بررسی وضعیت جمع آوری و دفع زباله های بیمارستانی مراکز آموزشی-درمانی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی مازندران در شهر ساری در سال 1392

Background & Objectives: A large portion of medical wastes is dangerous, which is hazardous to the health of human beings, animals, plants, and environment. Considering the importance of this issue, this study aimed to evaluate the collection and disposal of medical waste in teaching hospitals of Sari, Mazandaran, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional, descriptive study, a questionnaire including 122 items was distributed in four teaching hospitals during June-July 2013. The validity of this questionnaire was confirmed by faculty members, and its reliability was calculated to be 0.795. The results were analyzed using SPSS version 17 and Microsoft Excel. Results: The rate of medical waste generation in these hospitals was estimated at 2.19 kg/bed, 57%, 36%, and 3.6% of which were domestic wastes, infectious wastes, and sharp objects, respectively. Since medical waste is disposed out of the cities, municipality was responsible for transportation and disposal of waste out of the hospitals, except for one. Only Zare Hospital had incinerator, and BuAli and Imam Khomeini Hospials used Hydroclave (waste disposal device) and autoclave for disinfecting the infectious waste. Conclusion: The execution of the decree of Ministery of Health in relation to medical waste management is done monthly, and on the whole, proper equipments and facilities were used for waste collection.