Zoonotic Disease Prevention in Vet Personnel Flashcards
What makes you more likely to sustain a needle injury?
Recapping said needle.
Zoonotic infections in veterinary personnel are primarily related to what?
Bite wounds and exposure to animal feces, infected skin, and droplets – not blood.
What is the most important measure to reduce the risk of disease transmission in vet practices?
Hand hygiene (washing with soap and water or alcohol based products)
When should you wash your hands?
Before and after each patient encounter, after contact with feces, blood, body fluids, exudates, or other articles contaminated by these things, after cleaning cages or animal care areas, and before eating or drinking; after going potty.
When are hand sanitizers the most effective?
when hands are not visibly soiled. You also have to use a decent amount.
How can moist wipes be most effective?
When used before using hand sanitizer. Not very effective when used alone.
When should gloves ideally be worn?
When touching feces, blood, body fluids, exudates, performing dentistry, necropsies, OB’s, cleaning cages, handling dirty laundry, etc.
When should gloves be changed?
between examination of individual animals or animal groups, between dirty and clean procedures on the same patient, and whenever torn.
T/F: It isn’t necessary to wash your hands after wearing gloves, since your hands were protected.
False.
If you’re doing a procedure that is likely to generate splashes of blood or bodily fluids/excretions/exudates, what PPE should you be wearing?
masks, goggles, or face shields.
What are the most common reported accidents/injuries in the vet field?
cat bites, dog bites, and needle sticks.
When should the entire syringe (needle and all) be placed in the sharps container?
When injecting live vaccines or aspirating body fluids or tissues.
T/F: you can remove the needle from the syringe with your hand, as long as the needle has been re-capped.
False. You shouldn’t be recapping needles and you shouldn’t remove them from the syringe by hand. Use the sharps box to do this.
