About Us
Save Our Supplies (SOS) Ltd (ACN: 160 564 429) is registered as a public company limited by guarantee under the Corporations Act 2001. We are a Not for Profit Organisation registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and Australian Charities and Not For Profit Commission. SOS is focused on improving the level of access to clean, relevant and usable medical supplies for health professionals operating in developing nations. It achieves this by collecting usable medical items from Australian hospitals that would otherwise be dumped as landfill and redistributing them to hospitals and organisations in developing nations. We not only improve the standard of health care in these countries but we also address the appalling waste that currently occurs in Australian hospitals. Current Operation
Save our Supplies currently has collection bins placed in three major Brisbane Hospitals and we aim to expand our collection to include all major Queensland hospitals over the next year or so, and then expand to cover Australia. The medical supplies are collected by myself and a handful of volunteers, sorted, itemized, and bagged ready for distribution. Distribution of collected supplies is through other existing charities that have an existing distribution network chain across developing countries, such as Donations in Kind (an organization founded by the Rotary Australia World Services Ltd). We also have humanitarian doctors reaching out to us for the supplies they require when operating in developing nations. At the beginning of last year we redirected our supplies to assist wildlife charities helping animals injured in the bushfires throughout Australia. Due to the COVID19 travel restrictions we have turned our attention closer to home. At present we are assisting a healthcare for the homeless charity, with items such as gowns, gloves and bandages. We are also supplying Universities with items used in clinical simulation training for the education of our future doctors and nurses. Future Direction
Save our Supplies Ltd will continue to focus on expanding our collection network for unused surplus medical supplies with the major private and public hospitals in Queensland. We will then look to expand our operations into other Australian states and territories, and, hopefully, one day around the globe. We will continue to grow our network of charities that distribute our supplies to much needed people around the world and across Australia. We will continue to seek funding to expand our business. Reducing Waste and Minimising Costs
Hospitals and health care services contribute approximately 7% of Australia’s carbon emission, with hospitals alone producing half this amount (Malilk et al. 2018). Operating theatres produce approximately 70% of a hospital’s waste, creating a huge environmental hazard (Rigante et al. 2017). Queensland Health, in conjunction with Save Our Supplies, can lead the way into the future in regard to how hospital waste is managed. We believe simple procedures to reduce waste and minimise costs can be easily and cost effectively incorporated into Queensland Health Policy, as the main solution is as simple as placing unused operating theatre items into a clean bin dedicated to this purpose, instead of a dirty bin. Contaminated waste is expensive for hospitals to remove, as it requires the waste to be treated in accordance with strict health procedures. If clean items are separated and placed in an SOS bin before they are put in with contaminated items, then the amount of contaminated waste will be drastically reduced. By separating non-regulated medical waste from regulated medical waste streams, hospitals can reduce the volume that requires special treatment and reduce disposal costs (Lee, Ellenbecker & Moure-Ersaso 2004). Based on data from the Queensland Government, in 2018 hospitals alone generated approximately 15,000 tonnes of solid waste with disposal costs close to $15 million. Secondly, SOS is able to repurpose most of the clean/ uncontaminated items by collecting them from the hospitals and arranging for them to be shipped to under-developed countries that can use these supplies. This means hospital waste removal costs are reduced in 2 ways:
• Contaminated waste removal costs are significantly reduced by separating clean and contaminated waste, thus reducing the volume of contaminated waste.
• General waste (uncontaminated) removal costs are reduced, as SOS is able to take most of the clean/ unused items and re-purpose them for use in under-developed countries. Some examples of current hospital waste items that can be re-used are as follows:
• One hospital ordered 655,000 sheets of Kimguard, a heavy-duty material used to wrap instrument trays. These could be repurposed into waterproof mattress covers for third world nations. They are currently dumped as landfill.
• Many clean items collected pre-operatively can be reused. By way of example, these include: Surgical gowns, unused bandages, drapes and hypodermics. These and many other items are thrown away in vast quantities.
• Old equipment is just dumped as landfill. Equipment that is regularly upgraded each year includes operating theatre beds valued between $25,000 to $80,000. (One hospital discarded 8 in one year), ward beds valued at $4,000 to $20,000. (One hospital discarded 20/year), ward linen, patient chairs and many more. Then of course there are other larger items again that are often dumped as they are replaced by later generation equipment. Many of these clean items can be placed in separate clean/uncontaminated bins to be recycled or reused. In the case of larger equipment like beds, they can be collected as required. Helping Developing Nations
A lack of resources, infrastructure and financial accessibility can make it difficult for people in developing nations to access appropriate medical care. Healthcare providers are limited with the care they can provide without proper equipment and a clean environment in which to work. This results in these nations having a disproportionate burden of disease, compared to developed nations. However, recent studies have shown that this outcome is not inevitable. Success in minimising this burden depends in part on gaining an understanding of the local dimensions and determinants of access to health services, along with purposeful attempts to improve services for the poor (Peters et al. 2008). Save Our Supplies believes that we can drastically improve healthcare outcomes by providing the clean items we collect from the hospitals.
