 ‘Green’ is Back says Nathan L. Belkin, PhD is the founder of ARTA and resides in Largo, Fla.
What few of you reading this commentary may know is that until 1914, all surgical textiles were made of a white fabric. It was during that year that a San Francisco surgeon, Dr. Harry Sherman, introduced the color of spinach green.
He maintained that the glare of the white walls, towels, sheets and gowns was disturbing and distracting. As a replacement, he chose spinach green since he considered it complementary to red and hemoglobin.
Now, some 100 years later, the color green indicates society’s concern over behaviors and actions that harm the planet. Society’s concerns are not new, rather they represent a growing awareness of extensive misuse and mismanagement of the environment in the past.
The waste society has generated will not just disappear. The revolutionary disposable textiles that are “disposed of” by piling them high in our planet’s landfills do NOT disintegrate.
Strange as it may seem, these surgical disposable textile products can neither be burned nor can they be buried. Yet they are referred to as disposable!? In my opinion, the use of reusable surgical textiles cannot and will never be advanced by legislative action.
What then is the future of reusable surgical textiles? What should it mean to those of you attending this ARTA Seminar? My answer is quite simple.
The use of reusable surgical textiles by any healthcare facility is contingent upon the processor’s ability to produce a quality product, to assure its availability and, of course, to do so while economically meeting the user’s expectations. It has been done and is being done. The fact is that IT CAN BE DONE!. |