AB114. The environmental impact of unused anaesthetic face mask hook rings
Abstract
Background: The Irish healthcare system and more specifically anaesthesiologists should not be exempt from climate protection. This project investigated the plastic waste produced by the redundant anaesthetic face mask hook ring. The average Irish hospital theatre segregates out 10% of total waste for recycling when up to 40% could be recycled. To reduce plastic waste, we should eliminate items disposed of unused. The hook was invented by Clausen to attach the anaesthetic mask to the Clausen harness however is now largely obsolete in Ireland and across Europe since the invention of the Laryngeal Mask Airway. Manufacturers in the past have justified their continued supply due to demand by North America; ‘the logistics of supplying only to a European market without the hook was far costlier than the manufacture and supply of the hooks to all regions’. A 2 g hook translates to 365 kg of plastic waste produced per year, equivalent to 702 L of diesel. The HSE need to initiate discussions with medical equipment suppliers to ensure we too are minimising our carbon footprint.
Related Papers
- → Influence of Circle Hook Size on Hooking Efficiency, Injury, and Size Selectivity of Bluegill with Comments on Circle Hook Conservation Benefits in Recreational Fisheries(2005)83 cited
- → Hook Turns: Implementation, Benefits, and Limitations(2021)1 cited
- Optimal design of automatic hook height compensating device(2003)
- Study and experiment on a new kind hook(2001)
- The Lowdown of Hook API Tschnology(2009)