Exposure Determination:

Team Members in the following roles face occupational exposure to infectious materials:

• Chief Officers

• Duty Officers

• Field Training Officers

• EMTs

• Fleet personnel

• Organ Transport Specialists

Universal precautions:

Universal precautions will be followed at all times and include the following:

• Hand hygiene: Washing hands before and after each patient .

• Safe handling of sharps: Properly disposing of needles in a sharps container .

• Safe work practices: Following cough etiquette and respiratory hygiene .

• Safe waste management: Properly cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and equipment .

Hand Hygiene:

Team members must wash their hands with soap and water after each patient contact. Interim antimicrobial foam is available in response vehicles.

Sharps Handling:

Needles and sharps must not be bent, recapped, or removed. Sharps must be disposed of in OSHA-approved containers that prevent spillage. Containers will be inspected daily and replaced when ¾ full.

Needles may never be inserted into the pram mattress or ambulance seats.

In the event of a “needle stick”, consult Section 25 of the Team Member Handbook.

Work Area Restrictions:

Eating, drinking, and handling contact lenses are prohibited in contaminated work areas. No food or beverages may be stored near infectious materials.

Specimen Handling:

iCare Ambulance limits blood specimen collection to blood sugar testing.

Contaminated Supplies:

Disposable supplies exposed to blood or other bodily fluids must be discarded.

Contaminated Equipment:

All equipment exposed to infectious materials must be decontaminated in accordance with Section 24-Decontamination Procedures before reuse.

Housekeeping:

Ambulances shall be cleaned and disinfected daily and after every exposure in accordance with Section 24-Decontamination Procedures.

Contact Precautions:

Defined as direct or indirect contact with a patient and/or his or her environment including person's room or objects in contact with the person, that has an infection with an organism transmitted fecal-orally, such as Clostridium difficile, wound and skin infections, or multi-drug resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

• Gloves

• Gown

Droplet Precautions:

Droplet precautions are necessary when a patient infected with a pathogen such as influenza, RSV, COVID-19 or other respiratory virus is within three to six feet of the provider. Infections are transmitted through air droplets by coughing, sneezing, talking, and close contact with an infected patient's breathing. Droplets are about 30 to 50 micrometers in size.

• Gloves

• Gown

• Eye protection

• Procedure mask

Airborne Precautions:

Airborne precautions are required whenever entering a patient's room or environment who has been diagnosed with or is being tested for with high suspicion of anthrax, tuberculosis, measles, chickenpox, or disseminated herpes zoster or other pathogens that can be transmitted through airflow that are 5 micrometers or smaller in size and remains in the environment for long periods of time.

• Gloves

• Gown

• Eye protection

• N95 mask or approved respirator

Waste Disposal:

Sharps must be disposed of in approved containers. Regulated waste (e.g., blood-soaked materials) must be placed in biohazard-labeled bags and stored outside the passenger compartment.

Laundry Procedures:

Contaminated linens must be placed in designated facility containers and not transported back to iCare Ambulance.