In the fast-paced environment of hospitals, every second counts. From emergency rooms to surgical suites, healthcare professionals are constantly seeking innovations that streamline their processes and enhance patient care. One such innovation making waves in the medical industry is the use of Super Absorbent Polymers (SAP) packed in convenient, dissolvable packets.

We’ve spoken previously about the performance and time savings benefits of the dissolvable film packaging for medical waste solidifiers. However, there are additional benefits to these packs; notably surrounding the storage and shipping aspects when compared to traditional bottle products. 

Superabsorbent polymer (SAP) technology has a wide range of uses in a multitude of industrial, consumer, and specialty markets. The average consumer encounters SAPs on a daily basis, often without realizing their presence. SAPs are used in baby diapers, absorbent pads for food packaging, in hot/cold gel packs, feminine hygiene products, cat litter and more. SAPs also play a role in solidifying and rendering liquids generated by medical procedures as non-"red bag waste." In addition to the consumer goods and medical markets, SAPs are compatible with a long list of construction and industrial process wastes.

With the recent COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus, infection control within the healthcare environment is more important than ever before. Management of potentially infectious waste needs to be strictly followed in order to keep our healthcare workers, material handlers, truck drivers and others safe from potentially virulent material.  Taking full precautions and maintaining compliance with existing regulations support employees’ health and safety, which in turn benefits hospitals and other service companies that depend on said employees.

Before starting a discussion on how Zappa Stewart solidifiers allow compliance, let’s first understand the regulations with which a product/business must comply.

The new coronavirus epidemic, COVID-19, which originated in Wuhan China, causing severe respiratory illness, has brought a heightened level of both awareness and panic to the general public regarding the spread of viruses and infections in general. This only adds to the pressure hospitals and other healthcare centers have been under to reduce Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs), which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), affect roughly 1 in every 31 hospital patients across the United States.

The Zap-Loc solidifier for medical and laboratory use greatly reduces the risk for spread of infection through the fast and efficient solidification of infected waste.  The Zap-Out line of solidifiers takes this one step further through the addition of a patented additive for treating the waste fluid during the solidification process.

When we think of life and death decision-making, police officers, firefighters and doctors often come to mind. However, nurses and other healthcare professionals also make life and death decisions on a daily basis, and at the same time, they repeatedly put their own health at risk through the potential spread of infection.  All this to improve the health of others they may never have met.