Human blood can contain infectious pathogens that make it harmful to anyone who might be exposed to it. Thus, utmost care must be taken when performing a blood spill cleanup service. If you find yourself in a situation where you have to offer this service, you should follow the guide below.
Step 1: Grab Your Bloodborne pathogen cleanup kit
If you do not have a bloodborne pathogen cleanup kit, then it makes no sense to try and clean up a blood spill yourself. Your bloodborne pathogen cleanup kit should be comprehensive and contain all you need for the cleanup.
Step 2: Isolate the Area
Next, you must ward others off the area in order to prevent cross-contamination or a spread of the spill. The best way to do this would be to place caution signs near the spill.
Step 3: Put on Your Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Your PPE should be in your bloodborne pathogen cleanup kit and is your first line of defense against the harmful pathogens that might in the blood you want to clean. The PPE comprises safety glasses, and other disposable items like latex gloves, face masks, apron, and shoe covers. All these should be put on correctly before cleaning commences.
Step 4: Use the Absorbent
The kit should also contain a cleanup absorbent pack. This pack is designed to absorb liquid that is about 90 times its weight. A whole pack should be used on the area where the blood was spilled. Care should be taken not to inhale strongly and it must be kept away from the eyes during the application.
After some time that would be indicated on the absorbent pack, the spill would have gelled. You should use a scraper to pick it up and place it carefully into a red biohazard plastic bag that should be available in the bloodborne pathogen cleanup kit. This should be sealed tightly and correctly.
Step 5: Wipe the Surface
The kit again should provide you with a germicidal disposable cloth and a regular wiping cloth. The former should first be used in accordance with all the directions of the disinfectant. After a while, the latter would then be used to wipe the excess disinfectant that is on the surface.
Step 6: Get rid of the Disposables
The glasses, mask, shoe covers, apron, gloves, and any other disposable item you might have used during the cleanup goes in a second red biohazard bag.
The gloves come off last and should be removed by turning them inside out, carefully peeling them off from the wrist upward.
Both cloths used in the previous step, as well as the first red biohazard bag containing the absorbed blood also goes into the second bag.
Step 7: carefully tie the second red biohazard bag and put it in the waste bin marked for hazardous waste. This must be done so that the waste can be correctly transported and disposed of.
It is advised that blood spill cleanup service be rendered immediately a situation warrants it, as it might be difficult to clean if left to dry up. This however doesn’t mean that you should clean up the spill if you are not trained enough or do not have the necessary supplies. You might be doing more harm than good, so it’s just best you call on professional help.
