Bureau for Public Health

Office of Emergency Medical Services

Health Advisory 116 Injection Safety Recommendations

While the information contained in this news article was current and accurate when we posted it, it may not necessarily represent current WVOEMS policy or procedure. If you have any questions, please contact our office at 304-558-3956.

Posted: Thursday, April 28, 2016 4:25 PM

 

Since 2009, the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health has conducted six (6) investigations where unsafe injection practices were suspected to contribute to disease transmission. As a result of these investigations, the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health has recommended bloodborne pathogen screening for more than 4,000 patients. Many of these lapses involved improper access of medication vials or containers which were used to prepare injections for multiple patients.
Protect your patients, yourself, and your business by following safe injection practices. You can minimize infection control problems by adhering to these basic standards of care:
1. Follow proper infection control practices and maintain aseptic technique during the preparation and administration of injected medications.
• Perform hand hygiene before preparing and administering injected medications.
• Prepare injections in a designated clean medication preparation area free from potential sources of contamination (e.g., used equipment, sinks).
2. Never reuse syringes for more than one patient, even if the needle is changed. Never enter a medication vial with a used syringe or needle, even when obtaining additional doses for an individual patient.
• Reusing syringes for multiple patients or to withdraw additional medication can spread bloodborne viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or HIV.
3. Do not use medications labeled as single-dose or single-use for more than one patient.
• Saline bags, ampules, prefilled-syringes, and other medications labeled as single-dose or single-use, are only meant for use in a single patient.
• Leftover contents should not be stored or combined for later use.
4. If used, dedicate multi-dose vials to a single patient whenever possible. If multi-dose vials must be used for more than one patient, they should only be kept and accessed in a dedicated medication preparation area, away from immediate patient treatment areas.
• If a multi-dose vial enters an immediate patient treatment area, it should be dedicated for single-patient use only.
Healthcare providers should review medication preparation and administration procedures with staff and colleagues and ensure that all infection control recommendations, including safe injection practices, are understood and followed by all. The CDC's One & Only Campaign offers educational resources, such as toolkits and checklists on injection safety for healthcare providers and staff. You can find these materials and more at www.oneandonlycampaign.org.
This message was directly distributed by the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health to local

Since 2009, the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health has conducted six (6) investigations where unsafe injection practices were suspected to contribute to disease transmission. As a result of these investigations, the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health has recommended bloodborne pathogen screening for more than 4,000 patients. Many of these lapses involved improper access of medication vials or containers which were used to prepare injections for multiple patients.

Protect your patients, yourself, and your business by following safe injection practices. You can minimize infection control problems by adhering to these basic standards of care:

1. Follow proper infection control practices and maintain aseptic technique during the preparation and administration of injected medications.

• Perform hand hygiene before preparing and administering injected medications.

• Prepare injections in a designated clean medication preparation area free from potential sources of contamination (e.g., used equipment, sinks).

2. Never reuse syringes for more than one patient, even if the needle is changed. Never enter a medication vial with a used syringe or needle, even when obtaining additional doses for an individual patient.

• Reusing syringes for multiple patients or to withdraw additional medication can spread bloodborne viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or HIV.

3. Do not use medications labeled as single-dose or single-use for more than one patient.

• Saline bags, ampules, prefilled-syringes, and other medications labeled as single-dose or single-use, are only meant for use in a single patient.

• Leftover contents should not be stored or combined for later use.

4. If used, dedicate multi-dose vials to a single patient whenever possible. If multi-dose vials must be used for more than one patient, they should only be kept and accessed in a dedicated medication preparation area, away from immediate patient treatment areas.

• If a multi-dose vial enters an immediate patient treatment area, it should be dedicated for single-patient use only.

Healthcare providers should review medication preparation and administration procedures with staff and colleagues and ensure that all infection control recommendations, including safe injection practices, are understood and followed by all. The CDC's One & Only Campaign offers educational resources, such as toolkits and checklists on injection safety for healthcare providers and staff. You can find these materials and more at www.oneandonlycampaign.org.

This message was directly distributed by the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health to local health departments and professional associations. Receiving entities are responsible for further disseminating the information as appropriate to the the target audience.

 

File attachment

wv han advisory 116 injection safety recommendations 04.28.2016 final.pdf