Sharps injuries

Question 1

What is the sharps acronym?

Answer 1

Be sharps AWARE

Question 2

What is A1 in sharps injury?

Answer 2

Apply pressure and promote bleeding

At the sink, gentle pressure

Question 3

What is W in AWARE?

Answer 3

Wash, don’t scrub

Wash with soap and hot water at the sink

If it is mucosal splash then wash with warm water or saline

Question 4

What is A2 in AWARE?

Answer 4

Assess injury type

• Deep or shallow injury
• hollow bore needle or solid instrument
• visible blood or saliva / fluid
• type of instrument and cause

Question 5

What is R in AWARE

Answer 5

Risk of source blood

Treat ALL patients as HIGH risk

• don’t prejudice patients

IV drug users = higher risk

Question 6

What is E in AWARE?

Answer 6

Establish contact

• Contact senior staff
• Call occupational health immediately
• (not you) interview source patient and get consent for bloods and record on Datix system

Employees should then go through:

• bloods
• prophylaxis
• counselling
• prevention