Non-EMT Dude Combating Bad Bugs

[agcentral]

Have a kid graduating from Policy Academy in November (I hope).

I asked the kid what duty gear I could help him buy to get him started.

Seems the young man is more concerned about dealing with pokey pokeys while conducting searches in suspects.

How best to gear him up to prevent or reduce the possibility of catching and bringing home bad bugs (HIV, Hepatitus etc)?

Word on the police forums is that the EMT'ers have the answer.

Some say thick nitrile gloves... others say latex.
The leather gloves they say absorb blood etc. so are not necessarily the answer.
Many say they have the best antiseptic/santizers.

Any suggestions on 1.) Gloves 2.) Antiseptics/Santizers? Need manufacturer, description of best available.

Also... what does one do if they get punctured by a needle and have doubts about the person who was in possession of the needles? Take an axe to the finger? Really... what to do here?

Help is most appreciated!

 

[Stevo]

Word on the police forums is that the EMT'ers have the answer.

yeah we do have the answers agcentral, and if you'd like it in one neat little word here you go;


KNOWLEDGE


tell your youngster to enroll in an infection control course somewhere

good luck

~S~

 

[agcentral]

Stevo's only offering here: "yeah we do have the answers agcentral, and if you'd like it in one neat little word here you go;


KNOWLEDGE tell your youngster to enroll in an infection control course somewhere"

Thanks Stevo...

And perhaps he will return the same level of effort ('favor') you provided him here when some dude is about to do you serious harm. As you yell out 'HELP!!!!'... he can give you TWO little words of assistance....

CALL 911! as he winks at you as he walks on by.

good luck to you too

~A~

 

[agcentral]

Wow... no offerings what-so-ever.

And here I thought we had the much revered and celebrated bunch from Sept 11th.

I see now what that's all about.

 

[bumpus]

Wow... no offerings what-so-ever.

And here I thought we had the much revered and celebrated bunch from Sept 11th.

I see now what that's all about.

Just because you don't like what Steve said, doesn't mean you have to get an attitude.

I will say that if he gets stuck, he's either infected with something or not. You can't pour bleach on your finger or cut it off and stop it from spreading. If he thinks he's infected, he'll have to get checked out.

As far as protection, there are a ton of cut and puncture resistant gloves. Wearing a pair of those should help prevent a stick. Prevent being the key word. Brandwise, I believe that both Hatch and Damascus make good gloves. If he's worried about blood, he can get a pathogen resistant glove, or wear latex-type gloves underneath the puncture resistant gloves.

Tell your son good luck and to be careful out there!

If I'm wrong about anything, one of the old timers will correct me.^_^

ETA: Gloves like these may be his best bet, but they're somewhat expensive. http://www.damascusgear.com/section/products/puncture/x4.html

 

[MMiz]

Welcome to the forum!

A good pair of cut-resistant and poke-resistant gloves is essential for a police officer. Galls has tons of them. I'd look for the needle-resistant and cut-resistant ones.

As far as medical gloves go, a box of nitrile gloves will be helpful when there is blood / fluids present. The N-Dex® NightHawk Nitrile Gloves seem to be popular with police officers. The problem is that nitrile gloves aren't as durable as traditional latex ones, but many departments are latex-free.

I hope that helps!

 

[MMiz]

Wow... no offerings what-so-ever.

And here I thought we had the much revered and celebrated bunch from Sept 11th.

I see now what that's all about.

This is an online community, not 911. When you post a thread members will see and respond to it when they visit the forum. No one is paid to visit the forum, and most members don't reply to all posts.

In the future you may want to wait more than two hours before posting the passive-aggressive insults.

On a final note, I've found Vionex creates the best "no rinse gel."

 

[ffemt8978]

Actually, I find myself agreeing with Stevo on this one. KNOWLEDGE is his best weapon against ANY danger he might face on the job.

As far as a product goes to protect him, there is no one wonder product that will do everything he needs. If a glove is puncture resistent, it sacrifices sensitivity during searches (kind of important if your looking for drugs, handcuff keys, razors, etc...). A glove that is sensitive enough for searches generally doesn't offer the best protection, despite what the manufacturer says.

Knowledge is his best tool. Knowledge about the hazards and risks, knowledge about his procedures, and knowledge about how to minimize the hazards and risks will do more for him in all aspects of his job than a miracle glove.

 

[Stevo]

agcentral , if i went into a cop chat room and asked for tips on carrying a pistol having no prior fire arms knowledge, what do you suppose i'd be told?

i was inf cont officer for many years for my crew, it seriously tweaked me to have members think that all they needed to know was how to don ppe, as there is no all inclusive prophylactic

what i always drilled home to them was employing an underlying mindset on the streets

a good place to start (and it's just a start) is the Chain of Infection

Just because you don't like what Steve said, doesn't mean you have to get an attitude.

to be honest bumpus, nobody likes to sit and listen to two hours of this stuff on drill night, i had to pepper it with stories of flesh eating bacteria when i saw people nodding off......

~S~

 

[DT4EMS]

Most police academies have "First Responder" as a mandatory part of the academy. It should cover Bloodborne Pathogens.

For the 11 years I worked the streets as a police officer, I just had a good pair or leather gloves for the basic pat-down. I always carried a pair of latex gloves in a little glove pouch on my duty belt and a couple of extra pair in the trauma plate holder of my vest.

If he remembers his officer safety of "cuff first, then search" he will be a little better off. I can't tell you how many times I didn't have the time to put gloves on when things went south. After the suspect was cuffed, then I could put them on to complete the "search". I aslo carried hand sanitizer in my bag. Even a bottle of alcohol is usually less than a buck.

Gloves are an important part of an officers uniform, but if he tries to wear them "everywhere" he will generate complaints from the public. It makes the officer appear aggressive. (Even if he isn't)

 

[agcentral]

Thanks guys...

All I wanted was a decent reply.

Yes... I've been on the cop forums and I found that group VERY responsive and ready to step up and offer help/advice. MANY did. None suggested that I seek 'knowledge'... go to school... read books. They quickly gave me names of decent boots, backup weapons, flashlights etc. Very direct responses.

I WAS WRONG in my reply.

Still... my frustration was that I sat there and watched the count of 'Views' on my posting click off and yet no one bothered to say anything. I'm thinking... don't these people in this profession profess to be in the profession partially to 'help people'. Yet when I asked on behalf of what I would think would be a fellow comrade (policeman)... no one bothered until Stevo jumped in.

Stevo gave me (sorry) what I felt was the same type of political response I face in the corporate world every day. Ask a simple direct question... get a zero or vague answer.

It was the members on a Police Forum that remarked that you should go ask what the 'EMT' guys use. I'm thinking that makes since... and I don't think *I* nor my kid want to go to school just to find a name of a decent santizer or manufacturer of a decent nitrile or latex glove. Seems these were pretty simple questions.

Nether-the-less... I was out of line. My apologies.

 

[Stevo]

no skin agcentral

ems just isn't an easy biz anymore, lotta changes in a short time which is frustrating for us too...

i wish your kid well , and i'll even try to make the effort to respond a tad more polietly (gawd i hope the moderators don't rub my nose in this)

after all, if he's going to do patient care, he's one of us

peace out

~S~

 

[rescuecpt]

It was the members on a Police Forum that remarked that you should go ask what the 'EMT' guys use.

If I were you I'd be annoyed at them for sloughing you off onto the EMTs, rather than telling the father of a future brother what they do to protect themselves.

Regardless, knowledge really is the answer. Know what diseases are out there, how long they live outside of the body, how they are transmitted, and what to do besides wear gloves. Nitrile or latex will both help, but nothing is 100% fool proof. Tell your son to beware of people coughing, sneezing, spitting on him, especially in his face... the sclera (white part) of your eye is very porous.

Medline plus has a lot of good info, but then again that would be considered acquiring "knowledge": http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/infectioncontrol.html.

Wish your son best of luck from the fiance of a fellow LEO.

 

[fm_emt]

Yes... I've been on the cop forums and I found that group VERY responsive and ready to step up and offer help/advice. MANY did. None suggested that I seek 'knowledge'... go to school... read books. They quickly gave me names of decent boots, backup weapons, flashlights etc. Very direct responses.

I think that the difficulty lies in the fact that there are many products out there, but no 'magic bullet.' But Stevo is right. He wants to make sure that he has the right tools for the situation. An infectious disease class is an excellent idea.

 

[Jon]

AgCentral,

Welcome.

I am not strictly Law Enforcement, but work Security (as an EMT/Officer) and just recived my State Leathal Weapons Training card... so I can now work armed security. if I desire.

I will agree that an infectious-disease class is a GREAT idea... I went to one a year an a half ago, and it is nice to have answers when someone is "spouting off" about something at the station.

As for the gloves... Technology is a great thing. There are many new gloves on the market these days that are designed to be "needle resistant" for searching those who are in custody.

As for gloves... I've spent a little time lurking on one of the police forums (Officer.com) and one comment came up more than once... There are a number of officers who will put "medical" latex/nitrile gloves on if they are going to be going "hands on" with a suspect, espicially one who is injured/cut/bleeding/ or CRAZY.