About
Guard Aid™
Needle
stick Injury
Health
care workers suffer between 600,000 and one million injuries from
conventional needles and sharps annually. These exposures can
lead to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV), the virus that causes AIDS.
At least
1,000 Health care workers are estimated to contract serious
infections annually from needle stick and sharps injuries.
Needle
stick injuries are preventable. Over 80% of needle stick injuries
could be prevented with the use of safer needle devices.
Less than 15% of U.S. hospitals use safer needle devices and
systems.
Introducing
Guard Aid™
Guard Aid™ is designed to provide
some measure of protection from accidental needle sticks.
OSHA regulations require employer dentists to inform their
employees of the disease transmission hazards associated with
the practice of dentistry and to provide education on ways
to prevent disease transmission within the dental environment.
Robert Slaughter, DDS, Carmel, CA, recounts how he invented
the Guard Aid:
"One
morning when things were slow I sat down and tried
to think of ways to AIDS-proof my practice.It
didn¹t take long to conclude that the real danger
was not to the patient, but to myself and to my staff,
continues Slaughter. I remembered getting stuck with
a needle a few months prior, and decided that this
was the most likely method of accidental inoculation.
To make a long story short, I came up with a protective
device which I call Guard Aid".
Dr.
Slaughter adds that his staff have discontinued the
practice of leaving syringes lying around with uncapped
needles. Recapping a needle is simply a matter of
pulling one of the sheaths out of a drawer. Removing
the needle from the syringe is also safer with the Guard
Aid.
|
Benefits
of Guard Aid™:
 |
Can
Be used Over and Over |
|
Easy
To Engage and Remove |
|
Can
Be Put Into Steam Autoclave and or Chemoclave For Cleaning |
|
Encourage
Safe Return of Needle To Protective Sheath |
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