From: James Saccardo <James.Saccardo**At_Symbol_Here**CSI.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Table topping student chemical exposures
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2017 00:55:45 +0000
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 38CFD63A-D4EA-40FC-B17C-EA20AC17B46C**At_Symbol_Here**csi.cuny.edu
In-Reply-To


I have to remind my people all the time that they are not trained medical personnel. We removed all the first aid kits because no one is trained and none have the essential elements because they are not restocked. We do have campus police with trained EMT's and we have fast response times from the municipal EMS/FD/PD. The hospitals (2) are within 10 minutes drive. Now here is the caveat, our health center objects to accepting chemically exposed individuals. Perhaps we have the categorize chemical exposures to see if they can be treated by a nurse practitioner in our health center or be sent to a local hospital. I'm concerned that there is too large a response to minor incidents to err on the side of caution. Remember, an err on the side of caution, is still an error.
Your point about leaving the lab is well taken. This I will consider. Our showers are directly outside the labs in the corridor, so our protocol would be to cordon off the corridor and attend to the aided there and keep the students in the classroom or move them out the other entrance. Let's not discuss the impeding door to the shower ( it opens outward), that's not the point.
As for the jeans, they we soaked in a sink with mild detergent and dried on a glassware rack ( standard protocol). You could see where the three drops landed from the abraded cotton fibers. A good demo for the students. The student got her jeans back the next day and was grateful. 

We do have a lab coat policy and enforcing Goggles and lab coats is not a problem. I've adding the Tyvek, with boot covers in case the shoes are contaminated ( I don't recall this ever occurring, but thinking ahead).
We should table top more, I received a lot of great comments on and off the list, thanks guys!
James


On Jul 11, 2017, at 1:44 PM, Kennedy, Sheila <s1kennedy**At_Symbol_Here**UCSD.EDU> wrote:

James,

Table top exercises to share procedures seems a great idea!

First:  We're not doctors & we don't give medical advice or make personal health decisions for young adults. It's always the student's choice whether to seek/accept medical care.

  1. A student gets splashed with some concentrated sulfuric acid while wearing gloves, goggles and a lab coat. There is some on their cheek and chin and it burns, they are immediately taken to the eye wash and the areas are flushed for 15 minutes, it still burns and is slightly red. After another 15 minutes of flushing the student still feels slight discomfort.
  • Do you worry about scarring on the face and do you mention it to the exposed individual?
  • Do you send them to the emergency room by ambulance?

I would recommend medical evaluation for any student who has had acid in/near the eye.

If it was in the eye, the paramedics would be on their way during the first 15-minute flush.

If I thought there might be scarring, I'd strongly encourage the student to discuss it with medical personnel.

 

  1. A student splashes some nitric acid on their thighs and it has wetted their jeans, in a short time it becomes itchy and burns, the student goes to the bathroom and removes the contaminated clothing and decontaminates [in] the sink with wet paper towels. The jeans are washed in the sink and are abraded where the acid made contact. The student is fine and wants to return to work but has no clothing for their legs. Do you:
  • Issue a Tyvek suit and allow them to return to work?
  • Send them to the ER by ambulance?
  • Call their emergency contact and ask them to come and pick them up?

AAAgHHgg!! Why was the student allowed to leave lab to deal with contaminated clothing??? What was the TA/instructor thinking????? AAAgHHgg!!

All contamination incidents should be kept in lab & dealt with in lab. If privacy is an issue, the rest of the students can wait in the hall.

 

The jeans are toast, if not hazardous waste. We keep a supply of medical-style scrub pants (from the thrift stores) for this problem. I lend one out 2 or 3 times a year. Most return washed the next day with thanks. Disposables are also available. A Tyvek suit would work.

 

Returning to work is decided by whether there is an injury that needs attention. We can always assist a student in seeking medical attention, if that will quiet a worried mind. I doesn't sound necessary here, but I would never say that to the student; see line 1, above.

Ambulance seems overkill. During the day, we can walk to Student Health or us an electric cart service on campus if needed.

 

SMK


Sheila M. Kennedy, C.H.O.

Safety Coordinator | Teaching Laboratories

Chemistry & Biochemistry |University of California, San Diego

9500 Gilman Dr. | La Jolla, CA  92093-0303

(858) 534 - 0221 | MC 0303 | YORK HALL 3150

s1kennedy**At_Symbol_Here**ucsd.edu | Student Lab Safety, CHEM Teaching Labs


 

From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU] On Behalf Of James Saccardo
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2017 2:10 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Table topping student chemical exposures

 

Greetings all - I hope that everyone is enjoying the summer time. I am looking to tap into the collective wisdom of the DCHAS list serv.

 

Table topping student chemical exposures

Sending chemically exposed students to the hospital -

 

  1. (hypothetical) A student gets splashed with some concentrated sulfuric acid while wearing gloves, goggles and a lab coat. There is some on their cheek and chin and it burns, they are immediately taken to the eye wash and the areas are flushed for 15 minutes, it still burns and is slightly red. After another 15 minutes of flushing the student still feels slight discomfort.

=B7         Do you worry about scarring on the face and do you mention it to the exposed individual?

=B7         Do you send them to the emergency room by ambulance?

  1. (hypothetical) A student splashes some nitric acid on their thighs and it has wetted their jeans, in a short time it becomes itchy and burns, the student goes to the bathroom and removes the contaminated clothing and decontaminates the sink with wet paper towels. The jeans are washed in the sink and are abraded where the acid made contact. The student is fine and wants to return to work but has no clothing for their legs. Do you:

=B7         Issue a Tyvek suit and allow them to return to work?

=B7         Send them to the ER by ambulance?

=B7         Call their emergency contact and ask them to come and pick them up?

 

If anyone has some insight or a written document that they use in very minor chemical exposure incidents, where students are not sent to a hospital emergency room, I'd be interested in knowing what you do.

 

 

James Saccardo, CHMM

The College of Staten Island

Office of Environmental Health and Safety

(718)-982-3906

james.saccardo**At_Symbol_Here**csi.cuny.edu

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

                                             Benjamin Franklin

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