"Sharps" disposal

[Florida2012]

Hi there,

Not sure if this is the right place to put this but here goes!

My wife and I are coming over from the UK next year for a two week visit.

My wife is an insulin dependant diabetic and we need to find out where (if anywhere) we can dispose of her "sharps" (needles)

Has anyone have similar issues? Did you end up carrying a "travel" sharps box? (Which we have heard are not very good!)

Any advice would be WONDERFUL!!!

Regards
Matt & Jackie

 

[Piper]

Just ask and your hotel should give you one for in the room. At the parks, you can always go to first aid to dispose of them. I don't know about the "travelling boxes"

 

[SueM in MN]

As Piper mentioned, you can get a sharps container from the resort - ask at check in or call Housekeeping once you are in your room

For the parks, needles can be disposed of First Aid. I keep trying to remember to look whether or not they are available in the restrooms, but keep forgetting to look.

 

[Florida2012]

Thanks Piper and Sue

That's fantastic help!

Matt

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to both DisBoards and disABILTIES!

What I do when I travel is have either a water or soft drink bottle and put the sharps in it. I will put the caps back on the needles before I place the syringes or pen needles in the bottle. When I am ready to check out I will turn it in at the desk for disposal.

This way every needle is individually capped as well as they are all protected by the bottle.

 

[EpcotQueen]

My husband is an insulin dependant diabetic. We call housekeeping and they deliver a sharps box for him to use. We leave it after we check out and they dispose of it.

 

[PatsMom]

If you are staying at a Disney resort many have reported great success having a sharps disposal box sent to their room. When I asked the desk clerk looked at me like I had grown a second head! And said they would check on it. We waited a few hours with no luck. Since then I use Cheshire Figment's method - a heavy plastic bottle. When I had syringes I recapped before putting them in the bottle. Now I use pen needles and they don't need to be recapped. I also don't bother disposing during the day - I carry my used sharps in my bag and get rid of them when we go back to the room.

 

[SueM in MN]

If you are staying at a Disney resort many have reported great success having a sharps disposal box sent to their room. When I asked the desk clerk looked at me like I had grown a second head! And said they would check on it. We waited a few hours with no luck. Since then I use Cheshire Figment's method - a heavy plastic bottle. When I had syringes I recapped before putting them in the bottle. Now I use pen needles and they don't need to be recapped. I also don't bother disposing during the day - I carry my used sharps in my bag and get rid of them when we go back to the room.

If you get the 'second head' look at the front desk, just call Housekeeping when you are in the room. They are the people who actually provide the sharps boxes. Most hotels, not just at WDW, do provide sharps containers on request to keep their workers safe.

In some states it is not legal to dispose of sharps in a bottle like a soda or water bottle because they are soft enough to be pierced if for some reason a cap comes off. I don't know about Florida, but in Minnesota a business can be fined if a soft plastic bottle is found in their regular trash with needles in it. They may have a bin of 'red bag' (I.e. Contaminated trash) that they can put bottles like that into.
It's not so much of a problem with retractable needles, but I don't think the laws make a distinction. Another way to make things safer would be to tape the cap on before disposing.
A heavy bottle like liquid detergent comes in is usually allowed because those are very difficult to pierce.

 

[buffettgirl]

we've also used http://www.amazon.com/Bd-Needle-Clipping-Device-Packages/dp/B001IKKHYA which clips the needle and leaves the syringe able to just be tossed into the garbage.

One thing I DO always do - I leave a note for housekeeping stating that my young child has diabetes and there are sharps in the room which they do not need to touch, and that he has no blood borne diseases - so that if they see a stray test strip lying about (which ...who doesn't have that?) or the tell tale sign of 2am blood sugar checks on the sheets, they don't freak out.

 

[FBDM66]

As Piper mentioned, you can get a sharps container from the resort - ask at check in or call Housekeeping once you are in your room

For the parks, needles can be disposed of First Aid. I keep trying to remember to look whether or not they are available in the restrooms, but keep forgetting to look.

There aren't any sharps disposals the restrooms, at least as of last month. First Aid is our best option. Luckily since going to the insulin pen I just put the capped pen needle into the pouch of the meter case and drop in the sharps container when I get back to the room.

 

[FBDM66]

Hi there,

Not sure if this is the right place to put this but here goes!

My wife and I are coming over from the UK next year for a two week visit.

My wife is an insulin dependant diabetic and we need to find out where (if anywhere) we can dispose of her "sharps" (needles)

Has anyone have similar issues? Did you end up carrying a "travel" sharps box? (Which we have heard are not very good!)

Any advice would be WONDERFUL!!!

Regards
Matt & Jackie

The only 'travel sharps containers' I've seen were from my local pharmacy. They don't hold very much, pretty much one use only before you secure the cap on the box, so they're only good for an outing where you're injecting only once - not so good for a day in the parks when we're taking multiple injections.

 

[Florida2012]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your comments, certainly put our minds at ease!

Buffettgirl - Love the needle clipper, fantastic invention! Also the idea of leaving housekeeping a note is a really good idea! Never really thought about how it may affect them!! Certainly will be doing it from now on!

Lots of helpful people on here!!

 

[buffettgirl]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your comments, certainly put our minds at ease!

Buffettgirl - Love the needle clipper, fantastic invention! Also the idea of leaving housekeeping a note is a really good idea! Never really thought about how it may affect them!! Certainly will be doing it from now on!

Lots of helpful people on here!!

yah, I just felt like "what if I were a housekeeper and came across little blood stains every day ..." Not that they need to believe what I write, but I like to hope that MAYBE it helps..

 

[DCDisney]

Our travel agent includes the need for a sharps container on my resort reservation and it's been in the room each time we arrive. At the parks I just cap my syringes and put them back in the carry bag to dispose in my room. I did have an issue because I needed to use a handicapped stall in the restroom because I was also wearing special compression hose and needed to partially remove them and inject meds (longer needle than insulin) which is impossible in a tiny stall but some physically handicapped individuals gave me a hard time when I came out...

 

[melancholywings]

I would also recommend to travel with your prescriptions. My friends MIL is from the UK and when she came to visit her insulin froze and she had a difficult time getting more as we do things slightly different in the US.

 

[mycropht]

I have not had much love for the travel sharps boxes and would just rather get one from Housekeeping.

Also, I was told by my pharmacist that my unused sharps should be stored in my in-room safe along with my controlled narcotic pain relief prescriptions.

 

[FBDM66]

I have not had much love for the travel sharps boxes and would just rather get one from Housekeeping.

Also, I was told by my pharmacist that my unused sharps should be stored in my in-room safe along with my controlled narcotic pain relief prescriptions.

What your pharmacist said makes me pause. I certainly can see the pain meds being stored, but I never gave our syringes a second thought. At home, I remove the plunger and discard it separately before containing the syringe, rendering it (hopefully) useless. Since I do that at home, I should when traveling too, and make use of the safe. Your post made me think. Thank you!

 

[SueM in MN]

I have not had much love for the travel sharps boxes and would just rather get one from Housekeeping.

Also, I was told by my pharmacist that my unused sharps should be stored in my in-room safe along with my controlled narcotic pain relief prescriptions.

Good point about storage.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

So glad to find this thread!

I called DVC on Friday (10/14/11) about getting my Mom a sharp's container.

The CM gave me the number of a local pharmacy that would deliver medicines to the hotel and told me to ask them.

WHAT???



I also requested a location in the AKL Kidani near the lobby. He asked if I meant the elevator...no, the lobby, I replied. I read on the Internet that the lobby is nearest the bus stop.

He told me there is all sorts of false info on the Internet.

I don't think so, buddy!

I knew the people on the disABILITIES board would know the answer to my question. Perhaps we should get Disney to hire the people here instead. I'd most likely get answers that were correct.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

When you call Walt Disney World, unless you really know a direct number, you will get one of two offices.

The Disney Reservations Center (DRC) includes Walt Disney Travel Company (WDTC), Central Reservations Office (CRO), Disney Dining, DVC Member Services,and some other lesser known information lines. To the best of my knowledge the DRC locations are in the International Drive area, Tampa, Houston, Salt Lake City and somewhere in North Carolina. There may be more. Some of the people working at the DRC call centers may never have been to either WDW or DL (or both).

The Main Switchboard (407-824-2222) is also where all calls to Disney Resorts go if you are dialing the phone number on the back of your reservations form. Also that is where calls go if you dial the Operator from your room, and possibly even calls to the Front Desk. The Main Switchboard people will, if asked, also identify themselves as Guest Services. They can put you through to any number on WDW.

At both DRC and MS they have access to a computer which has lots of Guest Information and it is very well organized. Actually, all CMs who have access to a terminal, or who even can access "The Hub" from off-site, have access to this Guest Services information. I will often open an extra window when I am responding to people and go into The Hub for the latest official information.

The people at DRC and MS do not deal with upgrades, partially used tickets, or problems related to tickets. They do not know all the rules. The people at DRC can sell unused tickets; the people at MS don't deal with tickets at all.

The people who work in the ticket booths at the Parks or in Guest Relations at the Parks (and this includes TTC, the Water Parks, and GRO in DTD) deal with ticket upgrades and unusual problems on a daily basis. I would not say that someone you talked to on the phone lied to you, but just they were attempting to answer a question when they really did not have an answer.