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Published: August 11th 2011
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Howdy
How is everyone? Riots, looting, thuggery and nation-wide violence aside of course......
As my blogs to date have mostly been about the non-work element of my time in Cambodia, I thought I'd do an entry to give an idea of the kind of work I'm doing out here. Hopefully this will give you a sense of what my placement currently involves, and will reverse the notion that some of you think I'm just on a 2yr holiday!
So at the hosp I work at, there has been an issue with the proper disposal of clinical and general waste. Although we have incinerators, the process for the removal and disposal of pathological, infectious, sharps (needles, scalpels etc), medicine and general waste is not very well laid out or understood. Some waste is incinerated, but the majority of waste was being dumped into an open hole - everything from blood tubes, IV sets, contaminated slides from the lab (with lots of lovely samples containing HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria etc), empty medicine ampoules, plastic bags, food wrappings and rotting coconuts!
This hole was created as a by-product of some building work, but by default became the place where waste was
Busted
Check out the left-handside support....oops.... dumped - by both hosp staff and people in the community. This hole was about 20ftx20ftx10ft, and was situated right besides a path and a fence used by kids to get to the school next door. Another worrisome thing about this hole is that people scavenged in the pit, looking for plastic bottles, cans and medical supplies such as needles - people resell used needles and syringes. So, not a great situation.....so, I got to work!
In conjunction with Jon and the clinical and management team, I've written a waste management plan for each of the different types of waste generated by the hospital, detailing where the waste is put (different bins for different types of waste), how it is removed, who's responsibility it is for the various tasks and time-scales for each stage.
As I'm sure you'll agree, 'waste management' is not the most exciting of subjects.....unless like myself you're a fan of The Sopranos! But within a hospital setting, waste management and disposal is a very important issue nevertheless. The proper disposal of waste ensures minimal risk of cross contamination, provides stronger infection control procedures and affords greater health and safety for patients, care-givers, staff, visitors
and the community as a whole.
Part of the plan called for the open pit beside the school to be filled in, and for 2 new pits to be dug near the incinerators. And so, I wrote a funding proposal for a new secure area for 2 new pits (fenced off and gated) and for the old pit to be filled in. I presented this proposal to another NGO who support my hosp, URC, and they agreed to fund the project.....winner winner chicken dinner!
And so yesterday was Day 1 - arrival of the digger! It turned up without us knowing about it, but when we saw it we were well excited. We gathered around the flatbed truck it was on, eager to see it roll off and get to work.....until about a third of the way off the truck, the ramp stanchion broke and left the digger stranded on the truck! Nooooooooooo......
But the Cambodian people are an industrious bunch, so all the driver did was use the scoop arm as a crutch and inch his way off the truck - was a very impressive display. Though, perhaps not as impressive as when the digger then
had to give the truck a jump start by giving it an almighty push with the scoop!
Our Digger Man got to work, digging our pits and filling in the old one. It was so good to watch it unfold in front of our eyes - in just 2.5hrs, we had 2 new custom pits dug and the old pit beside the school filled in. And, as a little 'Brucie Bonus', the digger went to work on a troublesome tree stump out the front of my office! The building of the fence is scheduled to start on Monday, and so hopefully by the end of the week, Preah Net Preah Referral Hospital will have a shiny new waste disposal area.
So, all-in-all, a good afternoon's work. However, and this is the thing, the new pits are of course just the beginning. The real work is now in working the clinical staff, cleaners and groundsman to ensure that the plan is understood, adhered to and owned by the staff. I can write as many plans/policies/strategies/proposals as I want, but if it is not sustainable there really is little point in me being here. So, whilst I wrote the waste
Er...
...I wanna say my role here was Quality Control....but really, I just wanted to get in that bad boy! management plan and proposal with the help of Jon and our VA, it very quickly needs to become the
hospital's plan - not mine, not Jon's, not VSO's; theirs.
Alas, "Step 1 - Dig New Pits, Fill-In Old Pit" has been completed and the staff seem really engaged in ensuring that the waste is disposed of safely and securely.....so who knows, this whole crazy notion may actually work!
Big love from Cambodia
Pete
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Princess half pint
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Excellent work
Love this story!! I think it is an excellent first step in making changes but more importantly demonstrating how to make change. Good work Pedro.