Did you know that sharing needles is the single greatest factor in blood-borne virus transmission in the United Kingdom?
Learning proper needle safety is vital to anyone who engages in the use of hypodermic needles. Many medicines require using these needles, making understanding hypodermic safety crucial.
If you’ve been looking into proper safety while using sharps, we’re here to help. Read on for five vital points of needle safety.
1. Handle Carefully
One of the most important things is proper handling. Handling sharps and needles with the right care is crucial to preventing injury.
Never hold a hypodermic needle by the needle itself. Doing so puts your skin in closer contact with being accidentally punctured. It also can cause the needle to break, presenting further hazards.
2. Discard Properly
Properly discarding your sharps is another crucial way to prevent injury and ensure safety. Tossing a needle into the trash can lead to the needle puncturing through the bag and causing injury when someone is taking out the trash, for example.
Needles should be discarded in proper biohazard needle discarding containers. These containers should also never be filled to the top. Filling to the top makes it more likely that some will spill or cause injury.
Under no circumstances should you ever press down on a container of sharps to make more room. Doing so will almost undoubtedly end in a needle piercing your hand.
3. Never Share
Even if you feel you’ve done enough sanitation to share a needle, there should never be more than one user for a needle. Sharing needles is one of the highest causes of disease and illness transmission.
Once you use a needle, you should discard it immediately. Check with the manufacturer or a medical professional to see if there are situations where your needle is reusable.
4. Careful for Damage
Needles are very easy to damage, and damage can lead to a significant failure of the hypodermic needle. Breaks, cracks, or bends in the needle should immediately cause you to discard it.
You can read more info about a needle’s construction and sturdiness here.
5. Seek Professionals
There’s always a chance of injury when dealing with needles, no matter how careful you are. If you’ve found yourself punctured, pierced, or otherwise injured by a used needle, seek professional help immediately.
If medical help isn’t immediately available, encourage the puncture to bleed. While doing so, run it over water and use soap without scrubbing. Once the wound is fully clean, safely cover it with a plaster or bandage.
Proper Needle Safety
Needle safety is a crucial part of the use of any hypodermic needle. Avoiding sharps injuries is easy if you’re practicing proper safety, so make sure you’re using these tips and tricks to keep yourself safe.
For more information on safely using sharps and other healthcare advice, feel free to browse the articles on our extensively populated site.