It is important to know the steps you need to take if you are exposed to blood or infectious body fluids through a sharps or splash injury while at work.
- First Aid: Allow your injury to bleed, then clean the wound with soap and water or flush eyes, nose, or mouth with water for 15 minutes.
- Identify your source patient: This step is important and time sensitive. Obtain name and medical record number of the source patient. Order exposure labs or have a provider from the treatment team order source patient labs before reporting to Occupational Health. This is especially important in outpatient settings or overnight as you want to collect labs before the patient leaves or is discharged from your unit. You can search “source” in your smart sets and order all three labs or you can order each lab needed: PCR Hepatitis C Virus Qt, Rapid HIV, and Hepatitis B Surface Antigen. It is important to order these three labs specifically, so Occupational Health can determine infectious risk of the exposure. Make a note of these labs so you have them available if you are ever in this situation, as it can decrease the stress associated with a BBF exposure.
- Obtain medical care: Report to Occupational Health with source patient information as soon as possible. If Occupational Health Clinic is closed, you can call the on-call provider for further instruction at 615-936-0955.
Occupational Health Clinic has “Tip Sheet” badge cards that contain important information on what to do in the event of an exposure. You can pick up one up anytime or we can deliver to your unit, simply call 615-936-0955 or stop by the OHC clinic to request or pick up. These cards also contain instructions on how to order source patient lab work. Visit the Occupational Health website for more information.
Department Website: Link: https://www.vumc.org/health-wellness/news-resource-articles/treatment-exposure-human-bloodbody-fluids
Contact person/phone number:
Occupational Health Clinic 615-936-0955