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 Safety Lancet fully eliminates the danger of accidental injury with potentially infected needle and protects healthcare personnel from contamination with severe bloodborne pathogens
Use of conventional non-safety lancets can be deadly
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Healthcare workers in the U.S. and other countries suffer from thousands of sharps injuries -- mostly needlesticks -- each year. It has been estimated that one out of every seven workers is accidentally stuck by a contaminated sharp each and every year!
Physicians are much less likely to report a needlestick injury than other healthcare professionals. Estimates indicate that approximately only one out of three needlesticks are even reported! According to one NIOSH study, "Today alone over 2,100 health care professionals will incur a needlestick related injury." [NIOSH Study, 1999].
From these sharps injuries there have been 57 documented cases of HIV seroconversion among healthcare personnel through 2001. Two thousand workers a year become infected with hepatitis C, and 400 contract hepatitis B. More than 20 additional types of infectious agents have been transmitted through needlesticks, including tuberculosis, syphilis, malaria, herpes, diphtheria, gonorrhea, typhus, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Source:
ISIPS
(ISIPS) International Sharps Injury Prevention Society
The International Sharps Injury Prevention Society (ISIPS) has been formed to reduce the number of accidental sharps injuries that occur globally by promoting the use of safety-engineered products and services. ISIPS is an international group of medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, health organizations, healthcare professionals, medical waste disposal experts and others that are joining forces to provide education, information, and product knowledge that will help reduce the number of sharps injuries that occur each year.
ISIPS provides the latest information on needlestick injuries, sharps injuries, the challenges of HIV, Hepatitis and AIDS that challenge healthcare, waste management, custodial workers and law enforcement personnel.
ISIPS promotes the services and products that encompass the entire universe of safety products from modified sharps to alternative products that actually eliminate the sharp. All of these safety products will continue to be essential weapons in the battle against accidental sharps injuries because, unfortunately, not all sharps can be eliminated by newer technologies.
Source:
ISIPS
Endangered groups - not just a problem of healthcare workers
Needlesticks and other sharps injuries are not a problem for healthcare workers alone! These injuries also affect law enforcement, corrections, waste management, and custodial workers. These workers also need to have protection from cuts, punctures and body fluid exposure.
Source:
ISIPS
There are more than 100,000 needlestick injuries in UK hospitals each year. Needlestick injuries are virtually undocumented in many developing countries, but probably equal or exceed those in the industrial world. Some 10 million needles are used every year in the NHS in Scotland with around 4,000 needlestick injuries, two-thirds of which are suffered by nurses.
Healthcare workers worldwide are concerned about these accidental needlesticks and other sharps injuries resulting in life-threatening infections. Far too often, healthcare workers are becoming patients after being injured by contaminated medical sharps. These healthcare workers are contracting potentially deadly infections from sharps injuries that are largely preventable. Healthcare workers from other disciplines have received sharps injuries including: surgeons, anesthesiologists, cleaning staff, housekeeping staff, etc.
A recent survey in Britain uncovered 226 injuries due to discarded needles between 1995 and 1998 and 60% of those were injuries to government employees. However only 51% of local authorities had trained street sweepers and provided them with kits to protect them from discarded needles, and only 64% of local authorities had an official procedure to recover discarded needles if they were found by staff members. In addition, it is common knowledge that discarded needles are commonly found in parks, playing fields, beaches, public toilets, communal stairways and alleyways.
Countries like US, Canada, UK or Australia implement wide-ranging programs of sharps injury prevention. Nevertheless, number of sharps related infections is rising year over year. In continental Europe and even more in the developing countries sharps problem awareness remains on dangerously low level.
Popularization of safety medical products as promotion of sharps policies among clinical units is a constant challenge for epidemiologists but also for patients and healthcare professionals who want to feel safe every day.
Source:
ISIPS
