One big box to provide sharps safety
Jun. 20—Sometimes a box is just a box. Sometimes a box is important because of what is inside it, but behind the clinic at Daviess Community Hospital sits a box that is significant for what it does for the safety of the community.
The heavy plastic container is the newest place for the public to get rid of unwanted needles safely. The box may seem like a small thing but it is a big deal that involved hospital, community leaders and more.
"We are proud to partner with Daviess Community Hospital and Ship Happens to make this project a reality," said United Way of Daviess County CEO Zella Taylor. "We have pursued the efforts of having a 24/7 accessibility to dispose of sharp's needles for two years. We thank Ship Happens for donating the disposal bin to Daviess County and for the hospital for their commitment in managing the bid and tracking the weight of sharp's disposed of. This is going to be such a benefit to our community in keeping so many safe and we're glad to be part of it."
"We got involved with this due to our partnership with the United Way," said Daviess Community Hospital CEO Tracy Conroy. "The United Way was looking for someone to have the sharp's container and someone to manage it. We willingly agreed to do that and help manage it and get involved. We want to keep our community safe. We don't want people accidentally pricked by discarded needles, so this keeps a safe environment for everyone."
The disposal box is for all kinds of sharps that show up in the community, including those with special medical conditions, diabetes and even IV drug users. The idea is to get those items safely disposed of rather than threatening the health and well-being of citizens, children or city workers.
"We hope this makes a difference for the city," said Mayor David Rhoads. "We have been collecting sharps for many years. This will allow people to put those discarded sharps into this container and be safe and dispose of them properly. We have seen them disposed of improperly and they get in the trash and wind up on the streets and lay around. This container can play a huge part in keeping the community safe and clean."
Ship Happens provided the special box. The organization was founded in Miami County in 2020 by Antonia Sawyer.
"I worked with the Miami County United Way and we came up with the idea of equitable sharps disposals because the street department workers were getting pricked by needles a couple of times a year, so we came up with this idea for proper disposal to eliminate the prick reports to OSHA and increase to harm reduction programming for people who use drugs," she said. "Since we began, we have collected more than two tons of discarded sharps and reduced improper disposal by almost 60%. We hope this will happen here."
