TUSOM: Community Medicine Interest Group

ENVIRONMENT AND MEDICINE COMMITTEE

MEDiC: Recycling Medical Equipment Program

Organizations Involved

Tulane University Hospital

Community Medicine Interest Group's Environment and Medicine Committee - Joint effort between Tulane Med and Undergraduate Greenclub begun in 2002, focused on projects to make Tulane Med "Greener."

HAMAL - Hispanic American Medical Association of Louisiana (infosheet)- informs and advises the Hispanic community and Hispanic students about health issues and pursuing a career in medicine, awards scholarships to Hispanic students, and provides aid to Latin American Countries. They have regular meetings and lectures on medical topics and participate in Hispanic community health fairs.

IHC - International Hospital for Children- www.theihc.org a non-profit organization of physicians based in New Orleans founded in 1981. The IHC is a Hospital without Walls created to provide modern healthcare for the under privileged children of the world. Recruiting qualified medical personnel in the U. S. to volunteer their expertise, focusing on teaching advanced procedures to local doctors, so more children can be treated in their native land; working with equivalent healthcare providers a sharing of skills and resources. Complex cases are referred to the team for further treatment in USA.

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Elaine Urbina, Tulane Dept. of Pediatric Cardiology - Please contact Dr. Urbina if you would like to donate larger equipment.

Actual Procedure

1. Collection Boxes in SICU, PICU, NICU, MICU/CCU, Catheterization Lab - Students will collect the items from the boxes in all of these areas and bring them to the central processing point on the first floor (see chart below for further info). If there is nothing in the box, or the box has disappeared, please talk to the appropriate person listed below or ask to speak to the charge nurse to find out if they are holding any supplies in an alternate location.

The Tulane Hospital Pick Up Route

Floor	Unit	How to get in	Who to see	Where the box is
1	Central Processing	Push Double Doors	Milton or Anne	(Let them know you'll be bringing stuff in to be sterilized - then use the phone in the breakroom to call the OR at 8-5906 and ask them to send the extra supply bins down the dumbwaiter)
1	Shipping &Receiving	Through large black double doors	Kenny	(take two medium sized boxes from dumpster outside for pickup)
2	Cath Lab	enter through "Holding Room" door	Sylvia	in conference room next door - but borrow a cart from Sylvia if nec.
6	PICU	push doorbell and ID yourself	Jennifer/Kim	Biomed waste area
6	Bone Marrow Transplant	enter via PICU conference room or front door	Liz	in front of nursing station (opposite to entrance) * if you are infectious or coughing please don't go in here!*
4	NICU	go into scrub room to left of main door and use phone to ID yourself	Nancy Wood	on top of the nurses station
3	SICU	press handicap button on wall a few feet before the entrance	Rose	soiled utility room just to left of entrance
3	MICU/CCU	enter area that says "Authorized Personnel Only"	Mark	utility room (but ask to check)
1st	Central Processing	Push double doors	Milton or Anne	(SORT items inside first area)
2nd	Cath Lab	enter through "Holding Room" door	Sylvia	(RETURN THE CART!!)

2. At Central Processing - items will be sorted and evaluated for salvageability. The items which are able to be salvaged will be inventoried by students and resterilized by the appropriate Tulane Hospital staff.

3. The resterilized equipment will be boxed up and delivered to the storage point at Priority One Ambulance on the Westbank (IHC) or HAMAL's storage area in Gentilly (persons working this shift will be notified in advance - click here for directions).

4. Once or twice a semester there will be a "packing party" to fill IHC's 40 ft crate and ready it for shipment to the designated hospitals in Central America.

IMPORTANT NOTES!!

Pick up and sorting shifts should wear scrubs, ID, and double glove

Use the service elevator when transporting any equipment

Identify yourself as the student picking up equipment for this program (not just as a medical student)

If the "persons to see" above are not available, ask for the charge nurse

Please be polite and respectful at all times - the people in these areas are very sick and will most likely be trying to sleep

Be sure to sign in with the program rep doing inventory to ensure your service hours

Service Learning Credit

3 people per week will receive 2 service learning credit hours for each shift divided into:

o Pick up from departments

o Sorting and Inventory (in central processing area)

PLUS 1 large event every few months - Hours will be assigned at that time

For the time being Dhaval and Jacquie will cover the delivery aspect but we may begin to assign this.

Schedule (for 1st semester)

Wed Nov 20th - Jamie Macklin, Heather Book, Fasih Hameed, Ed Kwon

Wed Nov 27th - Vivian Hoang, Liet Le, Nida Qadir, Evan Rosenbluth

Wed Dec 4th - Geoffrey Kitzman, Thu-Ba LeBa, Deepa Reddy, Lisa Wu

Wed Dec 11th - Kristina Lewis, Drew Baird, Gabe Schuldt, Federico Teran

Wed Dec 18th - Martin Moehlen, Chris O'Brien, Daniel O'Connor, John Ramsey

*** If you have any problems with the day that you have been assigned, please try to switch with someone and let us know so that we can keep track. Thanks!***

Completed Studies on the Efficacy of the REMEDY Program

(upon which this program is based)

MacRae, JW. The REMEDY utilization study: a model for donations evaluations, a thesis submitted to the Yale University School of Medicine in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. 1997. unpublished

Rosenblatt WH, Silverman DG. Recovery, Resterilization, and Donation of Unused Surgical Supplies. JAMA 1992, 268(11):1441-3

Rosenblatt WH, et al. Case-by-Case Assessment of Recoverable Materials for Overseas Donation From 1318 Surgical Procedures. JAMA 1993, 269(20):2647-9

Rosenblatt WH, Silverman DG. Cost-effective use of Operating Room Supplies Evaluated Using the REMEDY Database. Journal of Clinical Anesthesia. 1994, 6:400-406

Rosenblatt WH, et al. Recovery of Unused Operating Room Supplies for Overseas Orthopedic Surgery. American Journal of Orthopedics. 1996, 9:633-636

Rosenblatt WH, et al. Focused vs. O.R.-Wide Recovery of Unused Surgical Supplies for Overseas Reconstructive Surgery. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 1996, 97:630-634

Rosenblatt WH, Chavez A, Tenney D, Silverman DG. Assessment of the Economic Impact of an Overage Reduction Program in the Operating Room. Journal of Clinical Anesthesia 1997, 9:478-481

Rosenblatt WH, et al. An Atlas of Surgical Supplies for Communication in Overseas Material Assistance Programs. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. April 1997. 99:1202-3

Any questions? Contact cmig@tulane.edu