Ideas That Work: Saving the Environment One Surgical Pack at a Time

Practical pearls from your colleagues

After much work, communication and trial and error, the staff at Eye 35 ASC in Schertz, Texas, have fine-tuned and standardized their surgical packs to match their exact needs. Sylvia Ortiz, a surgical technician, also noticed that many items within the surgical pack can be repurposed. 

“For example, our custom surgical packs come four to a large bag, so we use that large bag as a trash can liner throughout the non-OR parts of the facility,” she says. “We also reuse the plastic that sterile supplies come in to organize drawers or let employees take them to use for whatever they want. This immensely cuts down on wasted materials and supplies,” says Ms. Ortiz. OSM