Decontamination of hospital waste is a very specific and complex matter. In order to achieve the effective disposal of contaminated materials together with suitable working conditions for the staff of these workplaces, it is necessary to bring the process of decontamination of waste to maximal possible perfection.
In many workplaces, the staff often face problems that are caused either by the directly inappropriate choice of technological process or by often non-functional devices that are unable to play their role in the waste decontamination chain. An example of a positive development is Kazakhstan, where a huge shift in waste decontamination was achieved in 2020.
After an initial analysis of the situation in hospitals and finding that hospitals do not treat contaminated waste optimally, in 2013 we launched a campaign in cooperation with our business partner in Kazakhstan, Medico Innovations Technology Ltd, to improve hospitals awareness of professional waste management options and risks associated with their current procedures. The aim was to provide hospitals with comprehensive information and convince them that the safest, most reliable and operationally cheapest option for hazardous waste disposal is steam sterilization, which requires a steam sterilizer with decontamination of waste condensate and filtration of contaminated air. It is possible to use a powerful crusher for possible destruction of sterilized waste, transformed into the municipal category. The collected materials and experience from European workplaces were used to create a brochure, which our partner presented at thematic conferences. The response was positive and considerable.
We gradually started to deliver decontamination sterilizers, the interest in which increased after the first positive experience. An important reference in this phase of cooperation was, for example, the delivery of the STERIVAP HP IL 446-2 ED decontamination sterilizer to the Hospital of the Ministry of Interior in Astana. During the presentations and realizations, we used, among other things, knowledge from Belarus, where at that time we implemented a project to supply top central sterilization and disinfection department at the clinic of the President of Belarus. Our Belarusian partner fitted this workplace with our STERIVAP steam sterilizers and VACUDES mattress disinfectors from our parent company MMM GmbH. Together with the central sterilization, we solved the associated department of Waste Decontamination, where, among other technologies, the STERIVAP HP IL 666-1 ED steam sterilizer was installed. This reference has served us many times to present our vision and technology for contaminated waste management.
A major turning point came in Kazakhstan in early 2020, when the feared COVID-19 began to spread first in China and then around the world. A number of regulations and measures needed to be put into practice. The issue of waste decontamination was gaining more and more priority and the urgent situation significantly helped to promote the design of a comprehensive solution for decontamination centres. It is no coincidence that exactly in Kazakhstan, which has the second longest border with China, the government has decided to build a new hospital in the capital for one thousand patients diagnosed with COVID-19. It was a demanding and very fast action with the aim of building this facility within 50 days. Our main task was to ensure the in-time delivery of the STERIVAP HP IL 9612-2ED sterilizer, which was successful, including the crusher and other accessories.
After this first delivery, we received another order for a hospital in Shimkent near the Uzbek border within a few days. The delivery was again requested with a very short delivery time. Fortunately, it was possible to release the STERIVAP HP IL 669-2ED device in-store for this project, which met the necessary requirements for decontamination, which made it possible to deliver this project within requested term.
After these deliveries and in anticipation of new orders from other hospitals, we entered other devices in the same design into production. This move paid off for us, because the government of Kazakhstan really needed to supply new equipment for the decontamination of hazardous waste to the quickly built new hospitals. The promised short delivery date helped us in the competition and the result was an order for another 11 sets for decontamination of waste throughout Kazakhstan. Subsequently, we successfully completed the delivery of eight sets with STERIVAP HP IL 669-2 devices and four sets with STERIVAP HP IL 9612-2 for decontamination centres in hospitals in Almaty. This project was very demanding both logistically and commercially, however, confidence in our top solution ultimately brought a positive result.
In the period from May to December 2020, a total of 28 decontamination kits with a total value of around 3.5 million Euros were successfully shipped to Kazakhstan. This is a really above-standard work deployment in this difficult time, and it has once again been shown that the entire BMT Medical Technology team tries its best to satisfy customers requirements, which often seem unrealistic in terms of time, as in this case. But nevertheless, everything was successfully realized.
03. 02. 2020
