Interesting that you started on the therapy after a lancet stick.
Not trying to shred you here but this is a good chance to use you as an example for safety at all costs.
You say it was unavoidable and the truck hit a bump. However, research has shown time and time again, there was always a human factor/error when a needlestick occur. In fact there is ALWAYS something that could have been changed to avoid what happened. There are no accidents, which is why we now call them MVCs and not MVAs. Semantics of course but it proves the point.
I want you to reexamine everything that you can recall and see if any of these could have been altered.
Since I was not there, tell me yes or no if this could have been changed.
Safety--
First, how did you get stuck by a lancet. Why does your department not have retractable lancet needles? ( Should this be a good time to complain to your service so that this may be avoidable in the future?)
If you are holding a lancet which is usually in your thumb and first finger, how in the world did you manage to stick yourself while disposing it in the sharps?(Does your rig need larger openings on the sharps?)
If you are handling a needle and going down a bumpy road, or any road period....did/do you alert your driver when you are handling a sharps?(This is very good policy for any tyoe of needle, have the driver slow or come to a stop..I have done this on even the most critical patients dont give me any lines)...
Were you wearing gloves?( I have seen many people not wear gloves cause it is only a sugar). Wearing proper gloves, it is very hard to get a lancet puncture. You had to come down with some force to achieve that which makes me curious as to where or how your hands were placed. If nothing else, a bump should have been a scraping action.
When in a moving ambulance, why do you not simply toss the sharps onto the floor under the heel of your boot as is taught in all my EMT classes when it is inconvienent to dispose of a sharps or there may be risk to injuring yourself while doing so? This simple manuever would have avoided the whole situation you are now enduring.
These are a few of the things that come to mind at this current time. Now that you have read this, could YOU have changed any of these to avoid this "ACCIDENT". I am sure you could have. Thank you for allowing me to use you as a case study. Hopefully this post will give some others ideas on how to prevent injuries from needles themselves in the future.
As for taking th actual medicine for 30 days, I commented cause it is an unusual course of action these days. Doctors and people with needle sticks alike agree the cost and side effects just are not worth it. They like to take a wait and see approach. Did your pt have any conditions that warrant you to take these medicines? You are allowed to know this information and should have been informed by your safety officer and primary doctor. If your pt did not have any of these conditions, why did you choose to undergo this therapy? I am just curious for my own personal knowledge. If you look up the statistics, you may be pleasantly surprised to find out how low the actual transmission rate of HIV via lancet is. You need to remember, the lancet is not hollow like a catheter, so it does not have the ability to inject blood iinto you. It is solid, so that greatly reduces your rate of transmission there. I mean do what makes you comfortable, I was just tossing out food for thought. I have been stuck before(yes it was MY fault) and after gathering all information I declined any therapy.
Well, that is all for now ...good luck
