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Poked with dirty needle...


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No IV abuse hx seen. HIV emerged in 80s in US, right? I kind of doubt she was promiscuously-sexually active at age of 60?

No, but she may have had a blood transfusion before 1985 when we started testing for HIV. Hopefully this would have worked itself out one way or another by now, but there are such things as asymptomatic carriers. She's low risk but not no-risk.

This is why incidents like this need to be handled in an ER, not in a worker's comp clinic. You need good advice, and you've had all that you can get at this point. Interrogating the patient's family will not help your decision-making process here. Take your doc's advice and take the meds or don't, but don't fiddle fart around waiting to make up your mind. Make a flippin' decision.

Chances of seroconverting HIV from a positive carrier after a bloody hollow-core needlestick: 1/300

Chances of seroconverting Hep C from a positive carrier after a bloody hollow-core needlestick: 1/3. And there's no pharmacological prophylaxis available.

Double gloving does actually reduce your risk of transmission from needlesticks.

And I agree that running a tube of blood over to a hospital for testing with L&S is stupid. How much time is saved? 5 minutes?

'zilla

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In our area, as I stated, there is one hospital that can do the rapid test. The blood draw is taken by ambulance to the hospital (not crew involved plus lab tech) and they wait for the results and bring them back to the ED. The reason for the ambulance personnel taking them is to ensure proper handling and to expedite transport as time is of the essence. Yes, they do go L & S. This is standard protocol for our area as a needle stick is considered a life threat.

Ridiculous. This practice needs to be reevaluated and abruptly stopped...Probably in the top 5 most Ridiculous practices I've heard of in EMS....but I'm no expert :wink: Maybe fly it over with air med???? :D...Sorry :oops: I'm done

Back to the original post...If your doc wants you to start, then maybe you should for your own piece of mind. Sure would be nice to have the rapid test available...Have you specifically requested it??? The major concern in my eyes would be the hep c...Your kinda boned here tho..I have never seen someone come up positive from a needle stick, if thats any comfort..

(edited for content)

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KateB wrote:

The reason for the ambulance personnel taking them is to ensure proper handling and to expedite transport as time is of the essence.

Time is of the essence, how do you figure?

Racing around town isn't going to change the fact that he was stuck, the damage has been done (in this case I think the damage is very low risk) nor will the 30 seconds you save by speeding around have any impact on the outcome of the person being stuck.

He was stuck by a needle, he wasn't bitten by a rattlesnake.

I hope everything is going well Anthony.

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Ridiculous. This practice needs to be reevaluated and abruptly stopped...Probably in the top 5 most Ridiculous practices I've heard of in EMS....but I'm no expert :wink: Maybe fly it over with air med???? :lol:...Sorry :oops: I'm done

Seriously. Whoever wrote that policy should be fired. Obviously, their ability to think rationally and intelligently is suspect, as should be any other policies or decisions they have maded during their tenure. Kat, you're working for idiots.

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I am sorry to hear about your needlestick. It does sound like a lower risk and the decision to take the HIV cocktail ultimately comes down to you. I had a needle stick several years ago and decided to take the cocktail. I had allot of diarrhea during the two weeks it took for the ELISA results; however, I felt it was still the proper decision.

Take care,

chbare.

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