Topic Overview
What are blood and body fluid precautions?
Blood and body fluid precautions are recommendations designed to
prevent the transmission of
,
,
, and other diseases while
administering first aid or other health care that includes contact with body
fluids or blood. These precautions treat all blood and body fluids as
potentially infectious for diseases that are transmitted in the blood. The
organisms spreading these diseases are called blood-borne pathogens.
Blood and body fluid precautions apply to blood and other body
fluids that contain visible traces of blood, semen, and vaginal fluids. They
also apply to tissues and other body fluids, such as from around the brain or
spinal cord (cerebrospinal fluid), around a joint space (synovial fluid), in
the lungs (pleural fluid), in the lining of the abdomen and pelvis (peritoneal
fluid), around the heart (pericardial fluid), and
that surrounds a fetus.
Why are blood and body fluid precautions important?
Although skin provides some protection from exposure to
potentially infectious substances, it is strongly recommended that health
professionals use blood and body fluid precautions for further protection when
they are providing health care. These precautions also help protect you from
exposure to a potential infection from your health professional in the unlikely
event that you come in contact with the health professional's blood.
The American Red Cross recommends that everyone use blood and
body fluid precautions when giving first aid.
Are blood and body fluid precautions always needed?
Although it is recommended that you use blood and body fluid
precautions whenever you know you may come into contact with nasal secretions,
breast milk, stool, sputum, sweat, tears, urine, or vomit, the precautions are
not absolutely necessary unless these fluids contain visible traces of blood.
Blood and body fluid precautions apply to saliva only when it contains blood or
in a dental or oral surgery setting where contamination with blood is likely.
The best practice is to always use blood and body fluid
precautions, even when there are no visible traces of blood and no chance of
contamination with blood.
How can you reduce your risk of exposure to blood and body fluids?
Blood and body fluid precautions involve the use of protective
barriers such as gloves, gowns, masks, and eye protection. These reduce the
risk of exposing the skin or mucous membranes to potentially infectious fluids.
Health care workers should always use protective barriers to protect themselves
from exposure to another person's blood or body fluids.