Help me cope with sharps

[sirduke]

It is a problem you need to correct, and quickly. Too much nasty stuff out there, and a sharps, is the easiest route of entry. Thank God we don't have the Jelcos anymore here. We use the Autocaths with the spring retract, and I for one think they make it easier to start a line.

You just need to make it habit to automatically dispose of it into a Sharps container as soon as it clears the cath. You can alway do a finger stick to get the BGL, with less chance of hitting a bump in the road and gaining an exposure.

As for the "you wasn't no Basic" issue, I'm of two minds about that, it helps in many ways, but if you have a brain, which your post prove, then you obviously don't need that.

Everyone progresses at different levels and speeds, perhaps they needed that time to find their ass's without both hands, a flashlight, and a roadmap. Some do, some I know have been Intermediates for years and still don't have a clue. On the other hand, I've seen Street to Medic providers that were LLMF when they went to work. It depends on the person. (Dust will shit when he reads this)

When you pull that catheter out of the IV kit, start mentally thinking MUST DISPOSE OF PROPERLY until it becomes automatic.

Good luck

[katbemeEMT-B]

You will get it with time. You partner should know to look out for them when cleaning up! That is common sense.

I agree with this statement. Yes, we are each responsible for ensuring that we properly dispose of sharps, but we should also be aware of the possibility that there may be one lying around when we clean up the truck. I have always believed that there are two people on the truck to help each other. That means, if my partner forgets to do something, I do it and don't complain unless it is detrimental to a patient or the service. There are many times that I have to dispose of sharps.

Tell you sup. that this is 2008 in EMS, dump the jelco's and get saftey needles. I know smaller services are exempt from the mandate, but they should be looking out for saftey first! :roll:

Even many small, rural services are using retracting needles. In a time when exposures can be life-threatening, I would think your service would want to protect the employees and save themselves from having to pay out benefits to some one who contracted HIV through an accidental needle stick.

[WolfmanHarris]

That seems partially like a problem in your education to me. Think of safety sharps as "safer" not "safe." (kinda like a taser) When I lancet for a BGL I still treat the lancet (retracted sharp and all) as a sharp and dispose of it immediately with the same "sharp out, sharp away" I will for the glucagon. It might seem silly but even that lancet has a sharp buried in it, and if something went wrong with the mechanism it might be out. All the newest attachments and gadgets for sharps are great, but shouldn't be treated as a substitute for the sharps container.

If you can get into a lab with a dummy, training arm, injection site, do it. Go in with a bunch of equipment and practice all your skills, IV starts, BGL, IM, SC injections focusing on how you handle the sharps. Do it until it's automatic. It's good practice for the skills themselves, and hopefully it'll drill sharp safety into you. Bring a friend to help and distract and call you on any mistakes if you've got one who's willing. Anything other than hands on practice will likely just result in you getting nervous, beating yourself up and not building any good habits.

Good luck!

- Matt

[Richard B the EMT]

Follow the link and look at the bright red color. Even us BLS folks who don't use needles (trained in auto-injectors, not allowed to use) recognize them.

Sharps containers are our friends!

Older Paramedics who need retraining as they "temporarily" stab the needles into the seat cushions, even today, are NOT our friends!

[CBEMT]

An easy way to reduce sharps errors is reduce your use of sharps. On a three-minute transport, knowing that many nurses won't use a saline-flushed lock to draw from (and won't be using it for meds until the bloodwork is back), did your patient REALLY need the IV done pre-hospital?

[Kaisu]

An easy way to reduce sharps errors is reduce your use of sharps. On a three-minute transport, knowing that many nurses won't use a saline-flushed lock to draw from (and won't be using it for meds until the bloodwork is back), did your patient REALLY need the IV done pre-hospital?

Oh yeah... if you don't get the IV in, you are reprimanded for poor time management to the extent that I have been told that if the transport time is short I need to get the IV BEFORE we leave the scene. :shock: ( IV automatically ups the transfer from BLS to ALS.)

[CBEMT]

( IV automatically ups the transfer from BLS to ALS.)

Understood, but it doesn't change the question.

[SMVDE]

Older Paramedics who need retraining as they "temporarily" stab the needles into the seat cushions, even today, are NOT our friends!

[WolfmanHarris]

Every seen one of the practice injection site for a Mr Hurt dummy after a semester. You flip them over and the foam is solid mold in all kinds of different colours. And that's 3-4 months and then they're chucked.

[Kaisu]

Understood, but it doesn't change the question.

OK - the lady was in a lot of pain. She had been sent to a facility for treatment of the abscess but nothing had been done. I figured at the very least we could get some pain relief into her.