Stuff I Learned

Some interesting medical trivia I came across while doing research for House of Clay.

Universal Precaution No. 1 is all surgical patients are considered contaminated. In other words, all surgical patients are considered to be carriers of blood-borne pathogens.

All surgical personnel must don a scrub suit for wear during the day in the surgical suite. The suit consists of a pants and a top. The pants must be elastic-cuffed, not loose and open. Why? To prevent dirt from getting inside the scrub pants? No. To prevent minute skin particles and bacteria from the person's body - called "fallout" - from contaminating any sterile environments. The sleeves must be short enough to allow hand and arm scrubbing to three inches above the elbow; the top must be worn inside the pants to prevent it getting wet, and shoe covers and a full-body coat must be worn if the person has to leave the surgical suite for any reason - and then the covers must be discarded in a safe zone before they re-enter.

Face masks: are they to protect the medical personnel from inhaling airborne bacteria or viruses like HIV, hepatitis, etc.? Nope. Face masks are used to prevent the person's breath from contaminating the surgical suite. Also, face masks must not be touched by anything but the tie strings - touching the front of it can transmit bacteria to the hands or gloves of the person.