If you work in drug services the chances are there’s an A4 poster up somewhere telling you what do do if you, as a worker, are accidentally spiked with a used needle. You may even have read it once or twice, but now its going brown at the edges and no one really notices it. But how often do we talk about this with people who inject, after all they’re at a far greater risk of getting spiked than we are.
What should someone do if they get accidentally spiked?
If you work in a project any you get spiked you’ll also have a few extra things to do:
In all honesty I’m not sure what would happen about preventative treatment if an injector has an accidental needle injury. I’d be really interested to know if any of you have experienced an injector being offered prophylactic medication. I would say that in the UK most NSPs have access to blood borne virus testing either via referral or from a project nurse, and that if you’re concerned you should access this.
Of course the best thing to do is not get injured with a needle, obvious really. But what steps can people take to avoid one?
While it may at first glance seem judgemental there’s a term used in healthcare ‘universal precautions’. At it’s basic this means you treat everyone as a risk factor. A needle injury from anyone should be assumed to carry a virus risk, not just from injectors but also from acupuncture needles or any other ‘sharps’ you may come across whether they are from injectors, staff, or the general public. After all the bulk of people with HepC are unaware they have it.
We always assume something with needle injuries, look at the image for this article, or ANY image you get googling ‘needlestick injury’. Now think … what if the injury isn’t on your fingertip. You might stand on a needle, kneel on one, even sit on one… it’s better to work out now how to get running water onto a wound and have a plan than waiting until it’s urgent.
Talking about needle injury with people who inject, giving advice on how to avoid it and talking about testing if someone gets spiked is not only great harm reduction, but is also treating people as a valuable human being. I think both workers and people injecting often have a habit of just assuming that needle injuries for injectors are par for the course. They’re not, they’re avoidable.
Nigel Brunsdon is the owner of Injecting Advice. He’s been working in harm reduction since the 1990’s, previously a frontline needle programme worker he now splits his time between photography and developing online resources for drugs workers and users.
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