healthcare textiles & laundry
By Linda McCurdy
Safer, Smarter, More Sustainable: Reusable
Healthcare Textiles Outperform Disposables
A
ccording to Greek mythology, Prometheus enraged Zeus
by stealing fire from the gods and giving it to man. In
this tale, fire represents civilization and knowledge, which
the gods fear would be dangerous in the hands of mortals.
In modern times, the greater danger is that mankind does
not make full use of the tools and knowledge at its disposal.
We know, for example, that single-use items have con-
tributed to explosive growth in landfills and to the pollution
of waterways. Yet globally, we find continued resistance to
the idea of replacing those disposable products with reusable
alternatives despite their superior performance.
We know that in a mobile world, a deadly infection can
erupt into a global epidemic in a terrifyingly short time. Yet
just weeks into the onset of the coronavirus, China’s National
Health Commission issued a statement acknowledging that the
country was contending with, as Reuters reported, “a severe
shortage of equipment, including suits, masks and goggles.”
To those outside our industry, these may appear to be
unrelated events. But we see a strong connection between
the threats of greenhouse gas emissions and deadly infections.
In the face of its shortage, the Chinese government issued a
directive conserving the use of disposable protective equipment
among healthcare professionals. Its communication was an
unintentional reminder that all those disposable items were
being added to the world’s refuse and adding to greenhouse
gas emissions because they could not be sanitized, disinfected,
and made safe for reuse.
These events point to an opportunity not merely to promote
more widespread adoption of reusable surgical textiles
including gowns, towels, and drapes, and other reusable
medical products, but also to take a leadership position in the
protection of our planet, its people, and its sustainable future.
As the China crisis has shown us, in the face of an epidemic,
we cannot afford to rely on single-use gowns and other
disposable medical products. All non-renewable resources
are, by definition, finite in their availability—and they’re in
shortest supply when demand and need are greatest.
If reusables were the standard, healthcare professionals
in China would not have to make difficult decisions about
reusing or forgoing use of personal protective equipment
such as single use gowns and googles. They would not have
to hoard supplies. They would not have to take chances with
their own health and the health of their families, co-workers
and patients.
And yet, this is precisely what they’ve been forced to do
by both government policy and by the shrinking stock of
disposables available for use as this health crisis continues.
This is a manmade complication to already extraordinary
healthcare circumstances—a complication that could be
eliminated by the adoption of reusables and of our industry
standards for their processing and sterilization.
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Of course, reusables deliver superior value in terms of cost
of use, as well. The price/performance differential has been
well established for at least 15 years, as seen in an industry
whitepaper, “New Innovations in Reusable OR Textiles: An
overview of environmental, cost, and provider comfort issues.”
Citing the 2005 Comparative Operating Revenues and
Expense Profile for the Healthcare Textile Maintenance
Industry, which covered 49 percent of all U.S. hospital beds,
the whitepaper noted that “approximately 6.5 pounds of
surgical textiles are used per bed each day in hospitals with
300 or more beds.”
The whitepaper went on to provide this calculation: “If a
300-bed hospital chose to use disposable surgical products
rather than reusables, they would incur upwards of an
additional $250,000 in costs to trash the disposable products.”
And that’s simply the price of disposal. To gauge the full
cost, we must account for the impact on human factors with
which China is now contending. The financial implications of
relying on disposables are reflected not only in their higher
price tag relative to overall use but, more critically, in the cost
to human life, public safety, and the health of the planet in
the face of a serious viral outbreak.
Add to that the economic advantages generated by
local employment—jobs creation that spurs growth in each
community served by a hospital, medical center, or nursing
home—and there’s simply no financial rationale for continued
use of disposables.
The ecological argument is equally airtight. Under the
best of circumstances, our planet cannot continue to absorb
the daily addition of massive quantities of single-use items
to our landfills. When those items are not only disposable,
but likely to have had contact with life-threatening viruses
or bacteria, the peril escalates.
Conversely, reuse of gowns and other reusable medical
products reduces both waste and risk of infection, provided
that laundering facilities comply with the sterilization and
disinfection Standards established by HLAC and recognized
throughout the industry.
Let’s look at the coronavirus both as a healthcare crisis
and as a wakeup call—a reminder of our ethical obligations
to ourselves and our planet—and take up that leadership
position to protect both from avoidable harm.
We have long had the facts and information at our
disposal, and the grave danger, particularly now, is not
making full use of that knowledge.
Linda McCurdy is president and CEO of K-Bro Linen
Systems, Inc. in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She was recently
named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 Prairies winner,
and has served as president of the Healthcare Laundry
Accreditation Council (HLAC) since Jan. 1, 2020.
march 2020 • www.healthcarehygienemagazine.com