Exposure ?

[EMS4Life11]

The other day while on a call I had touched blood accidentally without gloves ( blood that was somewhat dry ? like when you let it sit on your skin for a couple of minutes and it becomes harder to remove unless you scrub it off ). On the top of my hands I have a few scrapes ( non bleeding ones that are maybe 1-2 days old ). The blood only touched my finger tips where no cuts are. I immediately used a hand antiseptic wipe and hand sanitizer to rinse where blood was in contact and washed with soap and water when it became available. The hand sanitizer did sting a little where I have a few scrapes, but none where blood came into contact. Do you guys think I'm at risk for an exposure for anything like Hep C or HIV ? Our exposure policy says we should report incidents if we think we have been exposed, but I don't know if i should consider this an "exposure" being I wasn't stuck with a needle, mix my blood with the patients blood or anything like that. I'm a "little" concerned but I'm also somewhat of a germaphobe too so I don't know what to do.

[island emt]

Since you are obviously new to EMS we'll go easy on you.

Yes it was an exposure

probably not an exposure worth worrying about unless you know the pt is positive.

You should have been required to take an OSHA bloodborne pathogens course before you were allowed to respond to calls. this is mandatory, which would have explained the process and how to make determinations of exposure or not.

If you are a germaphobe then you might want to reconsider your life activities.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Yes, it was an exposure, yes you need to report it.

I know several people who had minor exposures like you and they are now Hep C positive and on the liver transplant list.

Go report it today!!!!!

[MariB]

You must not have liked the responses on the other site where you mentioned you don't always wear gloves if you know the person etc.

You were exposed, HIV exposure was small as it was dried and did not touch an open sore, but hep of all strains can live several days in dried form. Your exposure risk was low but it is there, you are hesitant to report it because you were in the wrong (I read the other thread) yes, you have exposed yourself.

Your safety always comes first and was the first thing you were taught. Our protocol has is wearing gloves before we even set foot out of the ambulance. Let this be your lesson and I hope everything turns out for you.

EMT,nursing and other health care professionals have the highest rate of non drug use or sexual contact hepatitis infection contraction rates there is. PPE is a must. Keep safety glasses , gloves and a face shield near you at all times.

I am thinking of you and hope things are OK!

Since you are obviously new to EMS we'll go easy on you.

Yes it was an exposure

probably not an exposure worth worrying about unless you know the pt is positive.

You should have been required to take an OSHA bloodborne pathogens course before you were allowed to respond to calls. this is mandatory, which would have explained the process and how to make determinations of exposure or not.

If you are a germaphobe then you might want to reconsider your life activities.

he has stated elsewhere he doesn't wear gloves unless he knows the pt has an infectious disease. I hope this changes his way of thinking.

[ERDoc]

Report it and let the infection control officer tell you what to do. As Mari said very eloquently, your risk of HIV is almost 0, but Hepatitis can be a concern. Be more careful. I can tell you from experience that taking post-exposure prophylaxis is no fun.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Report it and let the infection control officer tell you what to do. As Mari said very eloquently, your risk of HIV is almost 0, but Hepatitis can be a concern. Be more careful. I can tell you from experience that taking post-exposure prophylaxis is no fun.

I as well can tell you about post exposure meds suck. I was a TB converter and I took the meds for 6 months and now I have to get a chest x-ray every year to prove I'm not TB positive even with NO symptoms.

Now that we get more information about your lackadasical use of gloves, Grow a brain and start to wear them on all calls. Island was easy on you but your flippant attitude of only wearing gloves if you know they are infectious is STUPID and will get you killed. Please let me put you in touch with one of my friends(I have two) who is on the liver transplant list up here in Maryland. He also had a flippant thought process of wearing gloves and got a minor exposure, he got hepatitis C - non-diagnosed over a period of about 8 years and just recently it's come back to bite him big time into needing a new liver. He has cost his health care insurer and old employer thousands of dollars in medical bills that may not have ever been needed if he had used gloves. He never got a needlestick but he did have a couple of abrasions on his hands and got some blood on them. He cleaned his hands with hand sanitizer but it was too late. He will more than likely die soon due to the fact that he is a poor match to anything but a very good donor.

So if you choose to not wear gloves, then that's your decision but don't come back here crying about being exposed and getting some sort of nasty disease, not after we have heard from Mari that you don't wear gloves unless you know they are infected. Up until 3 years ago, you would never know that my friend had Hep C and if you got his blood on you, you WOULD have gotten HEP C but then again, you would have somehow known that he was infected RIGHT???????. He looked very healthy.

so my advice is as follows

1. Start wearing gloves on any and every single call.

2. Report this exposure - if you don't then you might not be covered if you end up being infected

3. Go back and review your EMT/Medic book on infectious diseases and exposure - sounds like you need a refresher

4. Go back and re-take your companies Bloodborne pathogens and exposure course. You sound like you need a refresher on your company policy as well.

Stop being the HERO and get rid of the thinking that you are invincible - you won't believe how small something is that can kill you or permanently disable you - it's not the big things that sometimes hurt you the most.

But above all get rid of the "I don't wear gloves unless I know they are infected" belief - that's going to kill you.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Captain ToHellWithItAll

[MariB]

Please remember you are number one in this business. Your health and safety come first and foremost. Hep C and HIV are not the only things you can catch from a patient. I keep gloves in my pockets to change them constantly. If I'm going to be grabbing our jump bag, k pop the used ones inside out and put new on etc as the straps are tough to clean. Cot straps will get removed and soaked in disinfectant after an exposure to any infectious fluid. Not just for future patients safety, but for ours too.

Remember gloves protect you from all sorts of viruses and infections including but not limited to MRSA, hepatitis, HIV, c diff, herpes sores etc.

[Just Plain Ruff]

.

Remember gloves protect you from all sorts of viruses and infections including but not limited to MRSA, hepatitis, HIV, c diff, herpes sores etc.

And don't forget Ebola too

[MariB]

And don't forget Ebola too

lol etc etc

[paramedicmike]

So I'm curious EMS4Life11, why don't you wear gloves on every call?

It's an honest question.

I also don't fully expect that you're going to post here again simply because so many people on what sounds like multiple EMS discussion forums have told you you were wrong.