ISIPS Newsletter October 30, 2009

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Welcome to the ISIPS Newsletter

November 6, 2009

USA Health News

Accused biter used HIV as a weapon, judge
A Clinton Township man who publicly announced he is HIV-positive days after he allegedly bit through the lip of a neighbor during a...

Nurses union reaches contract deal with hospitals
A California nurses' union won't strike, saying swine flu protections have been written into new contracts with the state's largest hospital...

Charges filed after HIV used as deadly weapon
The victim learned through another "Grinder" user that Everett claimed to be HIV-positive. Police say Everett admitted to that he was HIV positive during an...

America takes a step forward in challenging HIV stigma
President Obama has vowed to overturn a 22-year-old travel and immigration ban against people living with HIV early next year.

HIV used as weapon in fight, Mich. judge rules
An HIV-positive Michigan man has been ordered to stand trial on charges that, when he allegedly bit his neighbor's lip, he was intentionally using the virus...

America's next step on HIV-Aids
The US is finally dropping its ban on HIV-positive visitors. Could federal funding for clean needle programmes follow? If you've been longing to climb the...

Avian Flu On The Rampage
The Executive Director, National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), Dr. Lami Hannatu Lombi, has disclosed that avian influenza known as bird flu,...

Vietnam reports bird flu outbreak among poultry
Vietnam has announced the reemergence of bird flu among its poultry after six months with no reported outbreaks of the H5N1 virus, the country's...

Bird flu returns after 6 months of quiet
Vietnamese animal health authorities officially recognized the resurgence of bird flu in the northern Dien Bien Province on Sunday, a half a year since the...

Bird Flu Reoccurs In Northern Province Of Vietnam
Bird flu has re-emerged in the northern province Dien Bien of Vietnam, the Vietnam news agency (VNA) cited a report of the Animal...

Zambia should not relax on Bird Flu prevention
Mr. Lumbama noted that although Zambia was free of the disease, the country was at high risk of getting bird flu because of the migratory birds that visited...

Guangdong woman ill with avian flu
H9 Influenza A is a mild form of avian flu. Infection in humans is rare. This is the sixth time H9 viruses have been found in humans in Hong Kong.

Swine Flu

How Schools and Parents Can Prepare for Swine Flu
With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting approximately 44000 cases of swine flu and at least 114 pediatric deaths since...

Spokane County woman dies of swine flu
A woman in her 50s is the latest victim of the swine flu in Spokane County. The Associated Press A woman in her 50s is the latest victim of the swine flu in...

Ukraine closes all schools to fight swine flu
Urging its citizens not to panic, Ukraine on Monday closed the nation's schools for a week to avoid the spread of swine flu and suggested...

Swine flu tidbits from around the world
Because the WHO told countries to stop counting individual cases of swine flu at the beginning of summer--a reflection of the cost of confirmation and...

Can H1N1 Vaccine Help HIV-Infected Women and Children?
... the H1N1 swine flu vaccine can safely cause a protective immune system response in pregnant women, children and young adults who are HIV infected.

Obesity puts swine flu sufferers at greater risk, study suggests
The elderly account for the vast majority of deaths from seasonal flu, but they are much less likely to contract swine flu, apparently because they retain...

Swine flu scare tightens borders around Ukraine
In Russia, where there have been 14 confirmed swine flu deaths, the Health Ministry said it would examine anyone crossing the border from Ukraine and...

Gaza on swine flu alert
Swine flu has not reached Gaza yet but with 1.5 million residents squeezed into 360 square kilometers it would...

Two more Kansans die of swine flu
State health officials say two more Kansans infected with the swine flu virus have died, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 14.

S. Korea raises flu alert to highest level to prepare for emergency
"The H1N1 is spreading fast but its fatality rate is roughly similar to seasonal flu and much lower than the severe acute respiratory syndrome or bird flu...

H1N1 flu virus in pigs — is it a big deal or not?
Often referred to as the swine flu, the H1N1 virus causing the flu pandemic is mostly a swine virus, Wolfgang said, “with a smidgen of bird flu material and...

The Challenge of Getting Swine Flu Vaccine to Poor Nations
Indonesia stopped sharing samples of H5N1 avian influenza because it wanted guarantees about access to vaccines and drugs. Now that we finally have a...

Medical News

Viral Load Predicts Outcome of Liver Transplant Recipients With Hepatitis C...
Viral load is an important factor and can predict the outcome of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) after...

Combination Drugs Are The Future for Hepatitis C
In hepatitis C (which I'll abbreviate as HCV) the addition of ribavirin to interferon turned what was primarily an on-treatment lowering of viral titers...

The Safety Compliance kit is designed to provide you with the tools to work safer and to help you meet AORN and AST standards.

The kit includes a puncture-resistant container with a lid. During the case the lid of the container can be used as a hands-free transfer method as sharps are passed between surgeon and staff.

For cases where your work area is tilted such as back surgeries and cases that position the patient in leg fins such as GYN laparoscopic cases and lower anterior bowel resections, the base of the container provides you with a neutral zone that can be placed at a slight slant. The sides of the tray contain and restrict movement of your surgery tools.

On your back table the container can be used as a safe zone for your longer sharps, such as spinal needles, trocars and Ortho pins. Having sharps contained in a container that can be used for transport of sharps after the case means one less time sharps have to be picked up and moved by hand this means one less chance for needle sticks.

At the end of the case the container along with the lid provides a safe method for transporting your needle counter and unused suture, along with other sharps from your field to the secondary container. Unlike the commonly used boxed style needle counters, the DC Surgical Solutions Sharps Compliance Kit has no seam on the side. Because of this it meets OSHA standards for transporting sharps, which states puncture-resistant containers should be leak-proof and seamless on the bottom and sides of the container.

The Suture organizer provides you with a method to divide your suture packets, speeding up reaction time and counts.

The needle counter/ scalpel holder meets all AORN and AST standards while talking up less space on the mayo stand and back table. The needle counter was designed with no lid. This takes away the dangerous practice of taking lids off for use during the case and then attempting to replace the lid after it is full of used sutures and blades. It also encourages surgical personal to keep their eyes on the needle counter as they are handling it.

For more information click here.

Hospitals still looking for hundreds of patients in contaminated needle case
Hundreds of people who may have been exposed to hepatitis C through dirty syringes may not have been tested for the disease yet.

Sparing Patients the Needle Remains a Priority
Using needle-free injection has been shown to mitigate all of these problems—reduce needlestick injuries, increase compliance, and eliminate the need for...

Flu alert raised to highest level
It is the first time that the government has established the national disaster response center against a disease since the Avian Flu struck the nation in...

WHO pandemic definition too broad, doctor contends
A subtype is represented in the H and N numbers of a flu virus' name, such as H1N1. Another example is avian flu, which is categorized as H5N1 or,...

Environmentalist: New Thinking Needed on New Diseases
Researchers concluded the virus most likely was transmitted from man to bird. In the past several years, people worried about getting the deadly bird flu...

Nation mobilizes forces against flu
... the disaster headquarters due to an epidemic since it set up the four-stage flu alert system in 2006 following a global eruption of avian influenza.

H1N1 Fact Check: What's Fact, What's Fiction?
This new flu bug, which is a combination of swine, avian and human flu viruses, first surfaced last March in Mexico. The first US case was reported in April...

Federal disaster plan comes up short: auditor general
Fraser said the department did play a part in developing responses to avian flu and H1N1, but hasn't nailed down its role as the central, co-ordinating body...

Swine flu vaccine safety assessed by independent experts
None of the study participants experienced side effects more serious than soreness and localized swelling from a needlestick. A mild and short-lived fever...

Hundreds May Still Be Untested For Hepatitis C
Read more in our Privacy Policy Hundreds of people who may have been exposed to hepatitis C through dirty syringes may not have been tested for the disease...

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

As promised several weeks ago, ISIPS has teamed up with the Safety Lady® to provide you with a number of educational video products including

Personal Protective Equipment
Shipping Infectious and Biological Materials
Laboratory Ergonomics
Chemical Hygiene
Bloodborne Pathogen

In addition, two "Game Format" reviews are also available.

Bloodborne Pathogen Quiz Show
Shipping Infectious and Biological Materials Quiz Show

To find out more information about these products click here.

To purchase the products click here.

OSHA Violations

...recent citations issued

Beehive Of North Idaho, Inc.

Coeur D'Alene, ID

$1,250

Each employer having an employee(s) with occupational exposure shall establish a written Exposure Control Plan designed to eliminate or minimize employee exposure.

Engineering and work practice controls shall be used to eliminate or minimize employee exposure. Where occupational exposure remains after institution of these controls, personal protective equipment shall also be used.

The employer shall establish and maintain a sharps injury log for the recording of percutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps. The information in the sharps injury log shall be recorded and maintained in such manner as to protect the confidentiality of the injured employee.

Rhode Island Hospital

Providence, RI

$6,750

Contaminated sharps shall be discarded immediately or as soon as feasible in containers that are maintained upright throughout use.

ISIPS Corporate Members

Please click on any ISIPS member below to view their sharps safety products!

Real Needlestick and
Blood Exposure Stories

We had one person who got stuck because a nurse left a shaving razor blade in the patient room without discarding it and the housekeeper stuck it back in our nurse server, the aide reached it not thinking that anything like that would be in there and got stuck. Because she was stuck we knew that this was a problem and were more cautious about sticking our hands somewhere. Another nurse got stuck by trying to open Lipid bottle with a pair of used dressing scissors and got stuck. If she hadn't reported it, we may not have known the patient was Hepatitis C positive. Bad for the patient and the nurse who should have known better. Report, Report, Report. It is a pain in the butt, but you can save yourself heartache later.

Featured Safety Product

FACE-IT full face shields

FACE-IT shields provide OSHA level protection against splash of bodily fluids to the face for the medical, dental and emergency medical healthcare workers. Non-medical shield uses are for non-impact protection such as keeping paint, dust, dirt and oil off your face and eye glasses. FACE-IT has a patented flat viewing area and a comfortable foam barrier which molds to the forehead for extra protection.

Model 16000
Two models of a full face shield are available.

Standard model 16000 features a patented flat viewing surface
to minimize glare and distortion.

DRAPE Shield, model 18000,
adds a fluid barrier fabric to bottom
of shield to protect upper neck
and chin area from splash under shield.

FACE-IT shields are packaged 50 to a dispenser box,
2 dispenser boxes to a carton (100 shields per carton).
Contact Onyx Medical for more details.

Fluid Barrier Fabric Drapes Under Shield Covering Chin

Fabric has Velcro-like Closure Under Chin for Splash Protection

LOW COST
1-800-333-5773

For more information click here

Allen Needle Triever

Help protect your staff from sharps injuries with the Allen Needle Triever. This suture needle retrieval system has a large magnetic surface to easily pick up any ferrous needles and sharps as small as .15 mm (.006") diameter.

Our unique design allows this magnetic sweeper to reach under the surgical table and other hard-to-reach places. The lightweight aluminum is easy to use, clean and store. The long handle, more than 3 feet, means you don’t need to bend over to find lost sharps.

For more information click here

All SharpGuard™ guarded knives are designed to meet "safer medical device" standards required by OSHA to eliminate or minimize occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Identification, evaluation and selection of safer medical devices are key components of a facility "Exposure Control Plan" (ECP), requiring annual reviews and updates.

SharpGuard™ guarded knives are packaged in sterile blister trays in a closed, safe position, five units per box.

Directions for Use:

1. To Open:

With textured grip pointing away from body, slide grip back until it clicks to expose blade.

2. To Close:

With the blade pointing away from body, slide textured grip toward blade until it clicks into guarded position.

3. Disposal:

Close the knife into the guarded position. Place knife in an approved sharps container.

For more information click here.

Anatomy of Needlestick Injury; Ron Stoker, Business Briefing: Global Healthcare- Advanced Medical Technologies 2004- Infection Control and Epidemiology
Needlestick Injury Prevention, Ron Stoker, Business Briefing: Global Healthcare 2003

Specially designed syringes maximize flue vaccine supply - Syringes reduce costs and and increase healthcare worker safety and patient comfort
Evaluation of The BD IntegraTM 3ml Syringe with Retracting BD PrecisionGlide™ Needle at Texas Children’s Hospital and Test-Med

Safety Wound Closure Presentation
Sharps Safety - Gaps and successes of safety device market conversion By Amber Hogan
Technology and the engineering of safety devices has increased since the promulgation of the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (BPS) (29 CFR 1910.1030) in 1991. As a result, OSHA revised its enforcement procedures in 1999 (CPL 02-02-069) to include guidance for its compliance safety and health officers to begin citing health care employers for failure to use safety devices where their use is feasible and effective.

Not Just painful, Deadly! Patients aren't the only ones scared of Needles By Ron Stoker
Future Healthcare, Summer 2006 p 121-3

Academy for Safety Excellence

Terry Jo Gile, MT (ASCP), MA Ed.
The Safety Lady
and
Ronald L. Stoker, MS
Executive Director and Founder - ISIPS
International Sharps Injury Prevention Society

The Academy for Lab Safety Excellence is a program designed by Safety Lady LLC to help you make the transition from bench tech to lab safety officer. You will learn to navigate the world of laboratory safety from the Safety Lady. You will discover the secrets to lab safety excellence that has taken others years to acquire. You will be able to network with colleagues to help you solve your most challenging safety issues.

This Academy is a perfect way to advance your safety knowledge if you:

Are new to lab safety or have limited experience in lab safety issues
Find it frustrating to locate safety information from a variety of sources
Want to expand the impact of your lab safety expertise
Want to increase your effectiveness in educating staff on lab safety issues
Need ready access to colleagues whose expertise in lab safety is well known
Would like to network with your peers on a regular basis for lab safety ideas
Have a limited budget for safety education

You can expect:

A 30 minute personal mentoring phone call to address your specific lab safety challenges
A minimum of eight conference calls over a 12 month period with other members of the Academy to brainstorm safety issues and cover a particular safety topic including:
- Conducting a proper safety audit and why it is important
- Designing and implementing a comprehensive chemical hygiene program
- Protecting employees through the use of ergonomic tools and PPE
- Shipping of infectious and biological substances
  Infection control and prevention
- Bloodborne pathogens and sharps injury prevention
- What's new in waste management
- Training methods that won't put your staff to sleep
- Timely updates via email with lab safety information before it is posted on the website or in the Safety Savvy newsletter
- Special audio conferences with guest experts on a variety of lab safety topics
- Sample safety templates to make documentation easier
- Unlimited emails to the ISIPS Executive Secretary
- Discounts on featured Safety products
- Ten(10) P.A.C.E. contact hours after successfully completing the Academy

An investment of $249 for all sessions
Dates for the Academy:
- October 22, 2009, November 12. 2009, January 14, 2010, February 11, 2010, March 11, 2010, April 15, 2010, May 20, 2010, June 10, 2010

The scheduled start time for all Academy webinars will be

10 am PDT, 11 am MDT, 12 pm CDT, 1 pm PDT, A preview webinar will be held on September 22 at 11 am MDT.

Preview Webinar - Academy of Safety
Tuesday, September 22nd at 11:00am Mountain
Simulcast! (Attend via Phone or Webcast -- it's your choice)
TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, CLICK THIS LINK NOW...
http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=8575968

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ISIPS
10046 Prestwick Circle

South Jordan, Utah 84095