Reduce packaging of canula's

[Rianne]

Hi all,
For my backpack trekking vacation I need to take lots of insulin pump canula's and tubings with me. That means a lot of volume and of course a lot of disposal after use because they are all packed separately in sterile blisters. I would like to reduce volume, weight and trash in my backpack. Therefore I am wondering if it would be reasonably safe to take the canula's with sterile gloves out of their individual blister and put them each in a separate small plastic bag, f.e. a small zipbag, and close these immediately. Has anyone of you done that before for about one month and encounter any problems with it? Does anyone know if there exist sterile small plastic bags for such purpose, and where I could buy these online?
I would love to hear your thoughts and experience, both negative and positive.
Thanks!

 

[Juicyj]

Hello @Rianne

Unsure what sets you use but am sure if you pack them using sterile means into a plastic bag then I can’t see any issue with hygiene as long as the bag is waterproof, only concern is potential damage from them being knocked about in your rucksack so would suggest a Tupperware box for this as you can’t afford to have any damaged sets, also take a third extra what you think you’ll need is my only other advice - also take pens as back up but you may of already thought of this already.

 

[MarkMunday]

Keeping things sterile until use is important in hospitals, where there is risk of contamination from other patients. But on a camping trip I wouldn't be too worried. Zip lock bags are a good idea.

I always used Chinese infusion sets (very cheap) when teaching overseas. They came in little paper packets, which made packing easy as I always took all my supplies with me. I reused sets and cartridges 2 or 3 time to stretch supplies and never had a contamination problem.

 

[Rianne]

Hello @Rianne

Unsure what sets you use but am sure if you pack them using sterile means into a plastic bag then I can’t see any issue with hygiene as long as the bag is waterproof, only concern is potential damage from them being knocked about in your rucksack so would suggest a Tupperware box for this as you can’t afford to have any damaged sets, also take a third extra what you think you’ll need is my only other advice - also take pens as back up but you may of already thought of this already.

Thanks Juicyj, for your thoughts and advice. I use the AccuChek Insight Flex canulas. Finding really sterile ziplock bags seems difficult but I assume working carefully and using zipbags used for food and medication will do. MarkMunday's reaction also gave me confidence in this. And indeed something like a lightweight tupperware box, and pens for backup, will be necessary. Thank you for your careful reply!

 

[Rianne]

Keeping things sterile until use is important in hospitals, where there is risk of contamination from other patients. But on a camping trip I wouldn't be too worried. Zip lock bags are a good idea.

I always used Chinese infusion sets (very cheap) when teaching overseas. They came in little paper packets, which made packing easy as I always took all my supplies with me. I reused sets and cartridges 2 or 3 time to stretch supplies and never had a contamination problem.

Hi MarkMunday, thanks for sharing your thoughts, and your real life experience is very confiding. So I will get me some good zip lock bags .