• Which class
  do I take?
• Healthcare
  Provider
  CPR
  BLS for Healthcare Providers (Healthcare Provider CPR)
• Non-medical
  CPR & First Aid
  CPR, AED and First Aid for Community and Workplace Bloodborne Pathogens & Universal Precautions Wilderness First Aid Babysitting First Aid & CPR (Babysitting Safety)
• On-site & Group Training
• Confirm
  Reschedule
  Cancel
  Verify Class Enrollment or Submit Payment Reschedule or Cancel Class
• Policies
  Contact
  Directions
  Policies Contact Information Directions About Us

On-Line Blood Borne Pathogens Training: Liability Statement

This course was constructed using the State of Colorado Child Care Providers Universal Precautions Manual as a reference, in additional to current reference materials from the American Red Cross,  American Safety and Health Institute and Centers for Disease Control. All graphics, explanations, tables and other content are original unless otherwise specifically noted. Colorado Safety Training LLC presents this training as an educational tool for regulatory compliance, and to the best of our ability believes it is in full compliance with State of Colorado and Federal OSHA standards in force as of January 2008. This course is not designed to replace local regulations, policies, guidelines and protocols. When any doubts exist, you should consult with a physician, nurse, attorney, regulatory agency or other expert regarding your specific circumstances and best practices in your situation. Colorado Safety Training LLC "The Company" disclaims all liability and persons taking this course agree to hold harmless The Company, all Employees, Agents, Vendors and Members for any harm resulting from the use of these materials. Use of any materials contained herein for any purpose other than to obtain certification in blood born pathogens is strictly prohibited. Your continued use of this material shall constitute acceptance to and agreement with the above terms and conditions.

On-Line Blood Borne Pathogens Training: Introduction

Blood borne Pathogens are viruses and bacteria present in blood or other bodily fluids that can cause infection. Since many signs and symptoms of exposure do not occur initially, all bodily fluids should be considered potentially infectious and proper protective measures should be taken.

How Disease Spreads:

For a pathogen to spread, multiple factors are required:

• A pathogen must be present.
• The pathogen must be present in sufficient quantity.
• There must be an entry route.
• The victim must be susceptible to the pathogen.

If one of these factors is removed, the pathogen is prevented from spreading.

• A pathogen must be present. 
• In some cases, it may be possible to eliminate contact with bodily fluids.
• The pathogen must be present in sufficient quantity.
• Some pathogens are not present in some bodily fluids in enough quantity to pose a significant risk. Nonetheless, we consider ALL bodily fluids to be potentially infectious.
• There must be an entry route.
• Use of Body Substance Isolation measures, such as gloves, will deny a route of entry.
• The victim must be susceptible to the pathogen.
• Some pathogens, such as the Hepatitis B virus, have a vaccine to help prevent its spread.

Entry Routes

There are several different routes for infection by a pathogen.

• Mucous Membranes (eyes, nose, mouth)
• Skin Contact (areas of non-intact skin)
• Inhaled
  

If any blood or bodily fluids reaches the areas above, there is a potential for disease to spread.

On-Line Blood Borne Pathogens Training: Stopping the Spread of Disease

There are several means that can be used to prevent the spread of pathogens.

• Bodily Substance Isolation (BSI):
• Provides a protective barrier to keep pathogens away from vulnerable areas.
• Examples:
• gloves
• face shields
• gowns
• CPR shields / CPR masks
• Vaccinations
• Hepatitis B vaccine
• Hand washing
• Considered by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to be the single most effective barrier against disease transmission.
• Soap and water or alcohol based hand washes may be used with equal effectiveness.
• Engineering Controls
• Use of devices, such as needle less systems and sharps containers, to prevent the spread of disease.

The above measures will help protect you against the spread of blood borne pathogens.

Specific Protective Measures:

BSI measures:

There are several types of BSI measures available. These include, but are not limited to, gloves, gowns, face shields, CPR barriers and more.

Gloves:

Gloves are available in three types of common materials:

• Nitrile, Vinyl
• Synthetic materials, does not cause allergic reactions.
• Latex
• Commonly available still, has chance of causing allergic reason in persons allergic to latex.

Due to the risk of allergy, you should avoid use of latex gloves whenever possible.

To properly use gloves, they should be available in several different sizes. Most gloves are in available in at least three sizes; small, medium and large. You must also be aware of how to properly take off contaminated gloves to avoid contaminating your self.

Please view the video on how to properly remove gloves.

If you do not have gloves available, consider the use of any plastic item, such as a plastic bag, for a barrier.

CPR Barriers

There are three primary CPR barriers in use today. These include CPR shields, pocket masks and bag-mask units (for health care providers). All will help protect you against possible exposure to blood borne pathogens. You should have at least one type of barrier device available for your use if CPR must be performed.  Current American Heart Association CPR guidelines do allow for chest compression only CPR if a barrier device is not available and the rescuer does not feel comfortable with providing direct mouth to mouth breaths.

Vaccines

Of the specific diseases of concern, including Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV, only Hepatitis B has a vaccine available at this time. Per OSHA regulations, Hepatitis B vaccine must be made available to anyone expected to provide first aid or otherwise reasonably expected to have exposure to pathogens as part of their job. The employee may choose to decline the vaccine.

The Hepatitis B vaccine is generally safe, however you should speak to your health care provider regarding the risks and benefits of receiving this vaccine. Please click here for the CDC Vaccine Information Sheet on the Hepatitis B vaccine. The vaccine provides protection over three doses and may be given in one of two schedules: first dose, 2 months and 4 months after the first, or first dose, 1 month and 6 months after the first.

The Hepatitis B vaccine is generally considered to provide a lifetime of immunity. Nonetheless, first a titer must be drawn to ensure your immunity to Hep B.

Please click here to view the vaccine information sheet on the Hepatitis B vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control.

Hand washing:

The CDC considers hand washing to be the single most important defense against disease transmission. To wash your hands, you must follow special procedures to avoid cross-contamination.

1. Turn on the water.
2. Wet your hands.
3. Apply soap.
4. Rub your hands together, causing friction, for at least 15 seconds. This is also about the amount of time that it takes to sing the alphabet.
5. Rinse your hands.
6. Use a dry paper towel to turn the water off (avoids recontamination of your hands).

Please watch the video on proper hand washing technique.

The use of alcohol based hand washes has also been proven to be equally effective. Be sure to use an alcohol based hand wash with at least 62% alcohol content. To disinfect your hands with an alcohol based hand wash, simply apply the hand wash and rub the entire surface area of your hands together until dry. Do not dry your hands if any hand wash agent is still present, continue to rub your hands together until dry.

Engineering / Work Practice Controls:

Several devices and work practices are available to further reduce the possibility of infection. Many of these involve safety around needles or other sharps.

When possible, avoid the use of needles unless absolutely necessary. Many devices exist, such as needle less ports and blunt cannula systems which make it unnecessary to use a needle when drawing up medications into a syringe or injecting a medication into IV tubing.

Sharps such as needles and scalpels should never be thrown away in the regular trash. Always use a properly labeled sharps container to dispose of any used sharps. Never force sharps into a sharps container or place sharps into a full container (as indicated by the full line). If a sharps container is unavailable, use a puncture resistant container such as a bleach bottle and label it with a biohazard label until a more proper means of disposal is available.

Needles should never be recapped. Avoid the use of needles that do not have a safety device. Many systems are available today that have a safety device. Examples include syringes that have a plastic cover that extends and locks in place over the needle once the injection is given.

On-Line Blood Borne Pathogens Training: Specific Diseases of Concern

Please review this chart for information about Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV. The chart is from the State of Colorado Universal Precautions for Child Care Providers training manual.

On-Line Blood Borne Pathogens Training: Post-Exposure Follow-up

If you are exposed to blood or bodily fluids, the first action is to take basic first aid steps. Rinse the affected area with copious quantities of water and prevent others from coming into contact with the pathogen, if applicable.

Your supervisor should be notified immediately, and the incident should be documented. Click here for an example of a post-exposure incident report form.

Medical attention should be sought as soon as possible. Studies have documented that post-exposure care, such as receiving a hepatitis B vaccine or prophylaxis medications for HIV, can reduce the spread of disease.

Also, following any exposure incident, the circumstances surrounding the exposure incident should be reviewed, to include the incident report form, to determine if any additional steps to prevent a exposure in the future can be taken.

On-Line Blood Borne Pathogens Training: Blood Spill Clean-up

The safe decontamination of surfaces is a vitally important task in preventing the spread of disease.

A blood spill clean up kit is available from many different sources. While individual contents may very, all include these common components:

• Personal protective equipment (gloves, face shield/mask combination, gown, etc)
• Solidification agent (Red-Z)
• Reg bag (biohazard bag)
• Plastic scoop
• Hard surface disinfectant wipe
• Alcohol based hand wipe

To disinfect a hard surface, use the following steps:

1. Don personal protective that will be needed, such as gloves. If possible, double glove (wear two sets of gloves.)
2. Open the packet of solidification agent, and pour evenly over the spill area.
3. Once the solidification agent has absorbed the spill to the greatest extent possible, use the plastic scoop to collect the spill.
4. Place the scoop with the biohazardous material in the red bag.
5. Open the hard surface disinfectant wipe and thoroughly clean the surfaces touched by the spill. The hard surface disinfectant should be allowed to air dry for maximum effectiveness.
6. Place the disinfectant wipe in the biohazard bag.
7. Properly remove your protective equipment and place them in the biohazard bag.
8. Open the alcohol based hand wipe and clean your hands. Do not dry your hands; rub your hands together until they are dry. 

Please watch the video on blood spill clean up. Please note that while the video shows correct blood spill clean up procedure, we do not endorse any specific product.

On-Line Blood Borne Pathogens Training: Waste Disposal

While all bodily fluids should be considered potentially infectious, not all bodily fluids are considered to be regulated waste. The following materials should be considered regulated waste:

• Blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM);
• Materials contaminated with blood or OPIM which would release these substances if compressed;
• Items that are caked with dried blood or OPIM and could shed these materials during handling;
• Contaminated sharps; and
• Wastes containing blood or OPIM.

All regulared waste must be put in a red bag or other appropriately labeled container, and disposed of properly.

Other bodily fluids such as urine, vomit and feces, while being considered potentially infectious, are not regulated waste and may be disposed of through other appropriate means.

On-Line Blood Borne Pathogens Training: Comprehension Check