Raman Sharma

The impact of incinerators on human health and environment

Abstract Of the total wastes generated by health-care organizations, 10%–25% are biomedical wastes, which are hazardous to humans and the environment and requires specific treatment and management. For decades, incineration was the method of choice for the treatment of such infectious wastes. Incinerator releases a wide variety of pollutants depending on the composition of the waste, which leads to health deterioration and environmental degradation. The significant pollutants emitted are particulate matter, metals, acid gases, oxides of nitrogen, and sulfur, aside from the release of innumerable substances of unknown toxicity. This process of waste incineration poses a significant threat to public health and the environment. The major impact on health is the higher incidence of cancer and respiratory symptoms; other potential effects are congenital abnormalities, hormonal defects, and increase in sex ratio. The effect on the environmental is in the form of global warming, acidification, photochemical ozone or smog formation, eutrophication, and human and animal toxicity. Thus, there is a need to skip to newer, widely accepted, economical, and environment-friendly technologies. The use of hydroclaves and plasma pyrolysis for the incineration of biomedical wastes leads to lesser environmental degradation, negligible health impacts, safe handling of treated wastes, lesser running and maintenance costs, more effective reduction of microorganisms, and safer disposal.

The patient satisfaction study in a multispecialty tertiary level hospital, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India

Purpose – Against a background of growing consumerism, satisfying patients has become a key task for all healthcare activities. Satisfaction in service provision is increasingly being used as a measure of health system performance. Satisfaction manifests itself in the distribution, access and utilization of health services. This paper aims to address these issues.Design/methodology/approach – A cross sectional study was conducted to assess the patient satisfaction level visiting the hospital with the objectives to know the behavior and clinical care by the clinicians and para‐medical staff and in terms of amenities available. A pre‐designed and pre‐tested structured questionnaire was given to the respondents after the patients had undergone consultation with the doctor. A proportionate random sampling was done to select the subjects.Findings – It was found that average time spent by respondents for registration was 33.20 minutes. The overall satisfaction regarding the doctor‐patient professional and behav...

Study of Knowledge, Awareness and Practices of Infection Control among ICU Staff of a Multispecialty Tertiary Level Teaching Institute of North India

Hospital infections are one of the important factors that adversely affect the image and economy of hospitals and ICU is a hotspot of infections. A descriptive and observational study was conducted in ICUs of a Multispecialty Hospital to analyze the knowledge, awareness and practices among staff about infection control.The study was based on checklist based on Ventilator Bundles and Central Line Bundles (IHI) and WHO. Whole staff of ICU was taken as sample size. A significant gap was noticed between actual practices followed and staff know-how. More than 80 per cent of staff was aware of hand hygiene moments and hand washing steps, but less than 25 per cent actually practised it. While 86 per cent of the staff claimed to wear fresh gloves, 57 per cent (239/418 observations) wore in practice. While 68 per cent claimed to follow oral care protocol, only 44 per cent actually did it. Contrary to 67 per cent who responded that they elevate the head of a patient who requires it, 49 per cent did it. And, 57 per cent of the staff followed catheter care practices as per protocol. Lack of accountability, discipline and focus on curative aspects accounts for poor performance towards infection control practices. So, through open communication, regular trainings and self-accountability, infection control standards and patient safety can be achieved.