Leaderboard

There was a need to wear gloves on this call and you didn't. Your argument is invalid. No. It's not. That's the whole purpose for the use of PPE. You don't know what their status is. You have to assume from the outset, for your protection and the protection of families and friends with whom you interact outside of work, that the patient has something potentially infectious and fatal. Failure to do so can lead to your becoming infected. People will lie through their teeth to you about their status. They will lie through their teeth and to your face. Or they will be infected and not know. Are you really willing to bet your health on this? I'm curious, too, what your employer's policy on using PPE is. I'd bet money that it doesn't say "only use PPE if it looks like you might need it or if the patient tells you they're infectious". (Coincidentally, failure to follow your employer's policy on PPE can lead to you being on your own for medical coverage for your exposure and treatment to bloodborne diseases if it has been determined you failed to follow that policy.) Distraction and not valid to the discussion at hand. Except in this case there was visible contamination and you didn't glove up. Then you came here, and at least one other site from the sounds of it, and queried us as to whether or not you had an exposure. So which is it there, sport? Glove up like you do? Which is apparently not nearly often enough? Or glove up all the time? Then why did you come here asking for input? Why did you put two different stories out there omitting information here that you included in your post on another site? Why be deceitful about the whole thing? Why withhold information? Why did you just not go to your organizations infection control officer? A position that is required by law for all EMS agencies? Our information is coming from due diligence in our research. Our answers to you are based on your sketchy, apparently incomplete, version of whatever events transpired to make you worry about an exposure. Because it seems you were, in fact, worried. You came here asking questions about whether or not you'd suffered an exposure. If you didn't really want other opinions then you wouldn't have come here or that other site. You *knew* you were wrong and are now trying to argue that you weren't. "BSI Scene safe" is not some useless mantra they teach you to say for testing purposes in EMT school. It's something that is designed to get your to act in your own best interest. Something that didn't take with you. If you aren't willing to take your own safety seriously then you have no business being responsible for anyone else's well being.