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Sara Muellerleile
DOS 793: Fieldwork III
Prof. Neil Joyce
October 27, 2021
Employer Service: Drug Take Back Day

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it has been difficult to find volunteer

opportunities within Metro Hospital as it still remains that most unnecessary events/ activities

have been cancelled or are proceeding with limited personnel. Luckily, I was able to find an

event that has been restructured in a drive through fashion to accommodate social distancing

concerns among the community.

The pharmacy group within the hospital provides a drug take back day for the community

twice per year. The goal in doing this is to properly dispose of unneeded medications to keep the

community safe from misuse as well as environmental hazards. When drugs are improperly

disposed of, it can have a significant adverse environmental impact, most significantly, reaching

the water system.1 This can negatively affect both humans and animals alike. A number of

pharmaceutical-related chemicals have been found in drinking water and waterways across the

country. Furthermore, when unused medications are left in the home, it opens the door for

accidental poisonings as well as misuse/abuse.

The volunteer group included myself, two employees from the city of Wyoming, MI, two

pharmacists, and one member of the local law enforcement. We began by setting up signs

throughout the hospital campus letting community members know the event information and

where to go. In addition, we set up tables and lined boxes for medications, sharps containers,
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trash and recycle receptacles and gathered other items needed such as gloves, tweezers, and

hooks for opening sealed containers.

Once the event officially began, members from the community were able to drive up and

drop off any items they had. I was then assigned to open each box/bag and apply patient privacy

stickers to cover any identifying information. Medications, creams, and liquids were dumped

into a large lined box and the containers were either recycled or disposed of. We had to be

incredibly careful during the initial sorting process as it was not uncommon to find loose needles

in some of the packaging dropped off by community members. At the end of the event, the city

workers took the sealed boxes, including several hundred pounds of unused medications, to an

incinerator (owned by the city), that gets hot enough to burn all of these materials.

I was truly baffled at the amount of unused medications that there are floating around.

Many people dropped off several bottles of completely unopened prescriptions as well as

unopened over the counter medications. All in all there was an estimated 50 people that dropped

off items, and that is such a small portion of just this one little community. I can only imagine

how many of these materials are disposed of improperly. This was certainly an eye opening

event that I look forward to participating with again in the future.

References

1. Ellis M. The dangers of improper drug disposal. Waste Today. October 9, 2018.

Accessed October 28, 2021. https://www.wastetodaymagazine.com/article/the-

dangerous-of-improper-drug-disposal/
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https://uofmhealthwest.org/events/drug-take-back-day-8/