Chennai Uniforms

Reusable Vs. Disposable Clothing: Which Is Best For Our Health Crisis?

These are times for new health concerns. The outbreak of new viruses is making everyone’s living harder. Times like these are when people and the medical staff have to be harmonious and work together in fighting new diseases. When it comes to hospitals, safety and hygiene are very important. Owing to this many medical overalls are in place to maintain the hygiene standards.

While the number of patients increases in the hospitals, the amount of bio-waste and its impact on the planet too is increasing day by day. According to an article in TOI, around 75% of the bio-medical waste goes untreated and left around the city posing a hazardous threat to people.

 

Situations like these we have to sit back and consider how we should take better steps to put this problem at rest. Bio clothing is the biggest aspect of the medical industry. Surgical gloves, surgical caps and overalls are a daily need. Doctors frequently work with them and dispose them quite frequently. But a fact to consider is that disposing of too much waste will again bring back more health concerns.

 

While not all of medical – wears can be made reusable, a few can be which will eventually cut down tons and tons of plastic waste from going into the dump. Some of the majorly used medical costumes are:

 

• Gloves
• Surgical masks
• PPE kit
• Hair mask
• Shoe masks 

 

The role of medical outfits is tremendous. Especially the PPE kit that helps keep germs and microorganisms at bay and from spreading from one person to another. PPE or personal protective equipment is a complete safety overall that prevents germs from spreading as doctors treat people with infectious diseases. 

 

There are always options and one has to make a conscious one. While disposable PPE kits are cheap and easily available, reusable ones are a tad costlier but they come for a longer time and are durable.

 

Here were some of the major benefits of  using reusable PPE kit

 

Sustainable – The recent few months have shown how and why is it important to take care of our planet as the environmental impact will hit us all hard. COVID period has seen and is still seeing the adverse effects of using one-time PPE kits. While it does help stop the spreading of germs, we all have seen them endlessly floating on water bodies and being dumped in the garbage. Is there a safer way to dispose it? No, people do not think of it as no one takes time for such things. It is in times like these that one has to consider reusable PPE kits. They can be used multiple times before discarding.

Availability – While use and throw PPE kits are available everywhere, reusable kits are also available provided one searches for it the right way. Reusable PPE kits are easily available and to maintain as they can be washed quickly and be sanitized thoroughly without causing much harm to the environment.

 

Economically viable – Cheaper products come for cheaper rates is no lie. Use and throw PPE kits are cheaper but do not last long and create a lot of trouble in disposing them. On the other hand, reusable kits are long-lasting and they do also come for cheaper rates.

 

Hygiene Factor – Disposable kits are single-use and no one bothers about doing something about them once it is gone to the landfill. On the other hand, reusable or cloth made PPE kits are washable and can also be thoroughly sanitized and cleaned before the next use. These stand lasting and make purchasing easier and economical.

 

Material – Disposable PPE kits are not easy to maintain. They are only to be thrown away after use and cannot be reused. Also, they cannot be washed and cleaned, unlike reusable kits. On the other hand, reusable medical clothing comes made of fabric mostly. This can be sanitized easily. 

 

The use of PPE kits and other surgical outfits are inevitable if the doctors have to be safe and treat the patients. But what is important is to know how and where can reusable items be used and where not. Taking the right and green decisions is the need of the hour.