Clinical sharps injuries and splashes with blood or blood stained body fluids procedure to be followed:
If you have a sharps injury you should:
- encourage the wound to bleed (never suck the wound)
- wash with soap and flush with plenty of water
- cover with a waterproof dressing
For splashes with body fluid:
- was with soap and water
- irrigate eyes with cold water / sterile saline
Then:
- Report the incident immediately to the manager in charge of the work area (with patient’s name whose blood was involved). The manager will arrange an assessment by the doctor caring for the patient.
- The manager should assist with the completion of the EHCW (exposed healthcare worker form) form along with input from the duty doctor caring for the patient which involves the consent and urgent testing of the source patient for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV and documenting the results on the form. This must be completed by the doctor within 24 hours. A copy of the assessment form will be given to you for occupational health review.
- If it is deemed a potential high risk source or if post exposure prophylaxis contact the duty Infectious disease specialist registrar.
As soon as possible report the incident
Incidents must be reported the same day, or the next working day
CUH Staff
During office hours (Mon-Fri 8:30am-4:30pm):
Out of hours (and bank holidays & weekends) remember to:
Please remember to report all needle stick sharps splash injuries to your Occupational Health department and document this on a Datix incident form. The sharps injury and other exposures to blood policies can be found on Merlin and CUH Connect. The blood exposure form and further information can be found on connect just search ‘sharps injury’.
See more on CUH Connect (opens in a new tab). (Please note you will need to login via your NHS.net account to access)