Donating medical supplies

Jells2dot0

Has anyone ever donated medical supplies or worked with an organization that takes donations? 

I have a large supply of saline flushes, heparin flushes, dressing kits for picc lines/IVs, a sharps container, and vacutainers for drawing blood from a picc line. I just had them ordered and delivered, as I did not know when they'd pull my picc. I had it pulled on Tuesday. 

I googled some things but I'm just not sure of what is reputable. So, just hoping someone had some experience!

Sugargirl1019

Would your home health nurses take them?

Lizzieyounce

Are there any free clinics near you? The nursing school I attend works with a clinic and they're always looking for supplies.

Lizzieyounce

Oh, and YAY on the picc coming out!

Jells2dot0

@sugargirl1019 I asked them about it, but they said they don't take the supplies back and I should look into donating. I asked where I could donate and the nurse said to check out the Salvation Army. However, I don't see any medical supply donation info on their website. I can call, of course, but wanted to gather some more options/info before working on it. 

Jells2dot0

Lizzieyounce said:

Are there any free clinics near you? The nursing school I attend works with a clinic and they're always looking for supplies.

@Lizzieyounce I'm not aware of any, but I can certainly look into that! Thanks for the suggestion!

Sugargirl1019

I suggest a nursing school then! The students can use the picc line dressings and saline flushes for their check offs.

NYCMercedes

brothersbrother.org takes stuff.

chasseuse

I think we donated my father's supplies through the American Cancer Society. Someone came and picked them up.

levioosa

Try Direct Relief.  We just donated supplies for the Ebola crisis in Africa.  I also like the nursing school option.  

KnightsNurse

First off, congratulations!! Second, I know at the hospitals in my area there are ALWAYS nurses/doctors looking for donations for private mission trips. There really aren't a lot of good resources for small medical groups going international and trying to make an impact.  It's a huge chunk of funding on the travelers' parts. When my nursing school gets supplies, they bring them straight to our local ED for the nurses that travel often....Good luck!

princessleia22

I'm not sure of places to donate supplies, but wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS on the getting the picc line removed!  I had one for about 10 months due to a stubborn staph infection after back surgery. So, I know the joy of finally being picc line free and had to say congrats.

Jells2dot0

Thanks everyone for the congrats (yay!) and for the suggestions.

ShellD13

First Congratuations!

I also second @KnightsNurse suggestion...I've donated items for groups traveling abroad on medical mission trips but they were looking for regular pharmacy type stuff (antibiotic cream, anti fungal cream, pregnancy tests, burn cream, pain relievers (adult and childrens, etc..).  Btw - that was an interesting trip through the checkout - I'm sure the clerk was wondering what the heck was wrong with me! ;-)  But I know that groups that are traveling typically spend a lot of their own personal resources on the supplies they will need while oversees so if you could find a group of Nurses or Doctors that were traveling I bet they would be very appreciative.  You might even reach out to any regional faith based organizations.  Like North American Missions Board, Compassion International they often have or know of many that are traveling for medical trips.