3 Ways To Prevent Indirect Exposure To Bloodborne Pathogens

By Greg Garner

Bloodborne pathogens are microorganisms that cause numerous infectious diseases, some of which are dangerous as they have no cure. The health care industry has been researching ways to prevent the spread of these pathogens in order to prevent these infectious diseases.

The health care industry as whole as well as individual hospitals have their own set of precautions and measures they follow to prevent this spread. These days it is necessary to train your health care employees about universal precautions. This enables the workers to protect themselves from infections and also helps them to identify such pathogens and be able to treat them in case of exposure.

Blood and body fluids are the main routes for transmission of bloodborne pathogens. Therefore your health care workers must be extremely careful while dealing with these.

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Below are three ways by which you can prevent exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

— Appropriate disposal: All waste after surgeries must be properly thrown away. This does not mean just throwing them in a trash can. The pathogens continue to flourish away from the human body. Therefore, items like gloves, needles, operating tools, and other used instruments must be separated in specific cans and then disposed off. Separate bags are to be used to discard blood and other body wastes.

— Thorough cleaning and decontamination: Many times this point is skipped. Cleaning is done but not decontamination. It is essential that all medical facilities are clean and sanitized regularly. It is one of the best ways to prevent spread of the pathogens either directly or indirectly. Your health care employees must be trained about the correct ways of hand washing and handling instruments and equipments. Training also teaches them how to deal with an accidental exposure and how to decontaminate after the exposure.

— Suitable tagging: All cans and containers must be suitably tagged and marked. This is a very important job and a specific person must be assigned to oversee it. This is to facilitate easy recognition of the contents. For hazardous material, generally a picture of skull and cross bones is drawn to explain that the content is dangerous. Only specific employees must be given access to deal with these materials. While doing so they are to observe all safety measures. All other employees must be taught to deal cautiously with such hazardous material and take extra care not to deal with items they are not authorized for. Cans that contain liquid should be repeatedly checked for any leaks. Some items have to be stored at a lower temperature. Food stuff must be stored in a different location. If food items get spoiled, it becomes a thriving ground for many microorganisms. Beverages also must be stored separately. While transferring them, caution is needed as they spill easily. If a source of infection is detected, it must immediately be sent to the laboratory for testing and study.

Previous study shows that accidents occur due to failure to follow safety measures. It is essential to provide your health care employees with proper universal precautions training, so that they can actively prevent transmission directly and indirectly.

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