The National Study to Prevent Blood Exposure in Paramedics: Rates of Exposure to Blood

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boal, Winifred L. ; Jagger J ; Leiss J ; Li J ; Lyden J ; Ratcliffe J ; Sousa S
• Description:
  The purpose of this analysis is to present incidence rates of exposure to blood among paramedics in the United States by selected variables and to compare all percutaneous exposure rates among different types of healthcare workers. A survey on blood exposure was mailed in 2002-2003 to a national sample of paramedics. Results for California paramedics were analyzed with the national sample and also separately. The incidence rate for needlestick/lancet injuries was 100/1,000 employee-years [95% confidence interval (CI), 40-159] among the national sample and 26/1,000 employee-years (95% CI, 15-38) for the California sample. The highest exposure rate was for non-intact skin, 230/1,000 employee-years (95% CI, 130-329). The rate for all exposures was 465/1,000 employee-years (95% CI, 293-637). California needlestick/lancet rates, but not national, were substantially lower than rates in earlier studies of paramedics. Rates for all percutaneous injuries among paramedics were similar to the mid to high range of rates reported for most hospital-based healthcare workers. Paramedics in the United States are experiencing percutaneous injury rates at least as high as, and possibly substantially higher than, most hospital-based healthcare workers, as well as substantially higher rates of exposure to blood on non-intact skin. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Blood Blood-Borne Pathogens Emergency Responders Health Personnel Hematologic Diseases Needlestick Injuries Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Paramedics Bloodborne-pathogens Blood Exposure Emergency-responders Exposure-levels Health-care-personnel Incidence Needlestick Needlestick-injuries Occupational-exposure Occupational-health Occupational Health Paramedical-services Questionnaires Risk-factors Statistical-analysis Surveillance-programs Survey Work-environment Work-operations Work-practices Workplace-monitoring Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  0340-0131
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; North Carolina ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  191-199
• Volume:
  83
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036398
• Citation:
  Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2010 Feb; 83(2):191-199
• Contact Point Address:
  Winifred L. Boal, NIOSH, Division of Surveillance Hazard Evaluations & Field Studies, Surveillance Branch, 4676 Columbia Parkway, R-17, Cincinnati, OH 45226
• Email:
  wboal@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• Performing Organization:
  Analytical Sciences, Inc., Durham, North Carolina
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20000930
• Source Full Name:
  International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
• End Date:
  20040331
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a430b747a7efccbf73e0340b5ba3babfb16c1546bcdb8ebd258879322d921b79024002d5a5fb863b647aa193d8ef9373784f9c95612ddcb519006f560555d8c7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187849/cdc_187849_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 330.75 KB ]