From: Paul Dover <Paul.Dover**At_Symbol_Here**monash.edu>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Table topping student chemical exposures
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2017 17:34:27 +1000
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: CAHp8f-ecCF++jU_g5YAvd0qvFc=1a_VmFm+3U3Euo4tpzQ=6sQ**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com
In-Reply-To <0b5058dc2dc34c97ac2f8568487fc765**At_Symbol_Here**MBOX-02.FLAS.CSI.CUNY.EDU>


It's winter here in Australia!

Great hypothetical.

We always recommend medical opinion when chemical exposure but we have to ask the 'victim' and the final decision is theirs.
Ambulance is another matter. If not an emergency it is very costly....around $700 for a 10 min ride. To try and get the University to pay or reimburse, while not impossible, is difficult. As suggested we would get someone (usually me!) to drive them to either the clinic or the emergency department. However a lot of people have ambulance insurance that covers this and could opt for an ambulance. The ER gets annoyed sometimes if is perceived as something a GP could take care of.
We also keep scrub type pants and tops for such situations.

In the first situation:
Would recommend medical opinion, probably not mention scarring specifically and ask them or arrange to take them (car or cab) to a GP or ED.

In the second:

I am assuming they thoroughly rinsed the affected area? Again would strongly recommend medical opinion before returning to work.
If they chose I would offer them scrub pants and allow them to return to work.

Cheers, Paul

---

PAUL DOVER

Resources Manager


Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Monash University

Parkville Campus

381 Royal Parade

Parkville VIC 3052

Australia

T: +61 3 9903 9551

E: paul.dover**At_Symbol_Here**monash.edu

W: monash.edu/pharm


On 11 July 2017 at 07:09, James Saccardo <James.Saccardo**At_Symbol_Here**csi.cuny.edu> wrote:
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.
  • 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?
  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:
  • 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?
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=E2=80™d be interested in knowing what you do.
James Saccardo, CHMM
The College of Staten Island
Office of Environmental Health and Safety
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Benjamin Franklin
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