a few days back earth day celebrations were in full swing..'the earth concert 'featuring 30 odd music bands of all genres,played at 12 different venues,but for the same cause..yo save the environment.
i am a self confessed 'green person',save trees ,say no to plastic types.. i always travel with a bag and as much as possible avoid using the plastic bags that the shop keepers tirelessly continue to use even wit the ban in place.
yes,i was under the misconception that i am doing my bit..
But here is the reality.
As an intern in kem hospital,i wear 1 pair of plastic gloves,under my sterile rubber gloves during collections.on an average ,on an emergency night i change my gloves 15 times..maybe more.
these plastic gloves are not reused,they r under the specific weight prescribed for plastics..
the foley's catheters,the iv lines,the cevafix,the polydrapes..all come in plastic packages.even the threeways.There is no way of doing away with this since it is necessary to maintain sterile conditions.
the coffee vending machine serves tea ,coffee, in plastic cups.on an average,i have 4 cups of tea.
plastic is indispensible to the world of medicine,or so it seems.
On the day that the world was at the earth concert,i was in a muggy,stuffy,emergency surgery ward.and all i could think of while i did my collections is...gosh what huge amts of plastic i use!
When i put in an intravenous line..the syringeis plastic,the three way is plastic,the iv catheter is plastic,the iv line is plastic,even the normal saline bottle is plastic.
happy earth day!