Search

While providing clinical care in the confirmed ward of the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) at the Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) in Kenema, Sierra Leone, I accidentally stuck an 18-gauge hollow-bore needle deep into my left thumb” Robinson (2015).

Reference:

Rubinson, L. (2015) From Clinician to Suspect Case: My Experience After a Needle Stick in an Ebola Treatment Unit in Sierra Leone. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 92(2), p.225-226.

[ctt tweet=”Graphic account of needlestick injury whilst working in an Ebola Treatment Unit http://ctt.ec/Oc4NV+ @ivteam #ivteam” coverup=”Oc4NV”]

Extract:

“While providing clinical care in the confirmed ward of the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) at the Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) in Kenema, Sierra Leone, I accidentally stuck an 18-gauge hollow-bore needle deep into my left thumb. I could immediately feel some blood oozing under my gloves, and I squeezed the area of penetration to try to promote additional bleeding. I rinsed the outside of my gloves with the only available option—0.5% bleach. In an ETU, one cannot simply remove one’s gloves and clean one’s hands with soap and water as one would with a needle stick in other clinical environments. After the momentary shock and embarrassment subsided, I notified my clinical partner about what transpired and then called by radio to have an urgent egress from the ETU.”

[button link=”http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4347316/pdf/tropmed-92-225.pdf” color=”default”]Full Text[/button]

Thank you to our partners for supporting IVTEAM
[slideshow_deploy id=’23788’]