Infection Control: The Management of Blood and Body Fluid Spills

This module, which is consistent with the Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare, provides practical guidance on managing blood and body fluid spills in a health care environment.

Health care associated infections (HAIs) are the most common complications to affect patients in Australian hospitals. There are approximately 200,000 documented HAIs a year causing unnecessary pain and suffering, prolonged hospital stays and increased cost to the health system. This module outlines the current guidelines for the management of blood and body fluid spills as part of infection prevention and control in any health care facility. It is the responsibility of participants to familiarise themselves with their own organisation setting-specific guidelines.

At the end of this module participants will be able to:

• Be able to identify a potentially infectious blood and/or body-substances.
• Understand the principles that apply to the management of a blood and/or body-substance spills.
• Know the equipment required to clean up a blood and/or body-substance spill, including personal protective equipment.
• Know how to manage spills of any size, including spot, small and large spills.
• Understand the unique requirements for cleaning of spills in areas at high risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.