(A) In order to minimize potential exposure to communicable diseases, officers should assume that all persons are potential earners of a communicable disease. All contaminated material will be considered infectious despite the perceived status of the source individual.
(B) Protective gloves shall be worn when handling any person, clothing or equipment with body fluids on them. All used protective gloves will be disposed of in the proper manner.
(C) Plastic mouthpieces or other authorized barrier devices shall be used whenever an officer performs CPR or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
(D) After the proper removal of protective equipment, personnel will immediately wash hands and any other potentially contaminated skin areas with hot running water and antiseptic soap. In the field, officers will use an antiseptic hand cleaner issued for this purpose. When antiseptic hand cleaners are used, hands will be thoroughly washed with soap and water as soon as possible.
(E) All sharp instruments such as knives, scalpels and needles shall be handled with extraordinary care, and should be considered contaminated items.
(1) Officers shall not place their hands in areas where sharp instruments might be hidden.
(2) Needles shall not be recapped, bent, broken, removed from a disposable syringe or otherwise manipulated by hand.
(3) Needles shall be placed in a puncture-resistant container when being collected for evidentiary or disposal purposes.
(F) Officers shall not eat, drink, smoke, apply cosmetics (including lip balm) or handle contact lenses in areas where there is risk of exposure to body fluids.
(G) Any evidence contaminated with body fluids will be double-bagged in plastic bags, and marked to identify potential or known communicable disease contamination.
(H) Officers shall bandage all open wounds while at work. Change bandages that become wet or soiled. This will help prevent an infectious disease being transferred by an infected person’s blood or body fluids contacting an open wound.
(Ord. passed 3-16-2009)