Copyright 2000 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
March 15, 2000 Wednesday FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 6B
LENGTH: 506 words
HEADLINE:
Safer needles sought for county health workers;
Suggested replacement, a
retractable syringe, helps avoid accidental sticks
BYLINE: KAWANZA GRIFFIN of the Journal Sentinel staff
BODY:
Health care workers in Milwaukee County will
use safer needles to protect themselves and others from
needle-stick injuries under a policy the County Board's Health
and Human Needs Committee has endorsed unanimously.
The vote last week
came after emotional testimony by Ann McCormick, a registered nurse who
described how in 1992 she accidentally stuck herself while she was trying to
recap a needle.
McCormick told the committee about the mental anguish of
having to wait one year before final testing confirmed she had not contracted
any deadly disease. Workers injured by needles risk exposure to blood borne
pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis B and C. But she also explained that having
safer needles, which have been available for over 10 years, could have prevented
her injury.
Each year 600,000 to 800,000 health workers suffer
needle-sticks, mostly nurses -- but also doctors, laboratory staff members and
other workers.
The policy proposed to the County Board follows a
recommendation by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National
Institute of Occupational Safety and Health last November. The CDC encouraged
employers to adopt strategic measures to protect health care workers from
job-related injuries caused by needles in syringes, intravenous delivery systems
and related medical devices. According to the American Nurses Association, only
15% of hospitals use safer needles.
Roger Kraig, political director for
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Wisconsin State Council,
demonstrated use of a retractable syringe. The device works similar to a pen,
and can be clicked a second time to retract the needle inside its plastic
covering before it's removed from the patient.
Supervisor Mark A.
Borkowski was concerned about the cost for the county if the policy was
approved. A standard blood-collection needle, for example, costs about 6 cents,
while a safer version costs about 25 cents.
However, he was assured by
Kraig that the overall cost would be much less than the cost to care for an
injured worker.
A recent insurance study indicated that a worker's
compensation claim would cost about $500,000, Kraig said.
Supervisor Roger Quindel, sponsor of the resolution, said that doing
something as simple as buying safer needles was a "modest step" that could help
health care workers and that it should be done now while the cost was
reasonable.
But cost should not be an issue, said Candice Owley,
president of the Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals.
"It's a
major improvement if we can find ways to eliminate needle-sticks," she said. "Of
course if we save money it's good, but it's more important to save people from
pain and suffering and to save lives."
Other committee members who
supported the policy include Supervisors Sheila Aldrich, Kathleen Arciszewski,
Elizabeth Coggs-Jones, Terrance J. Herron, Robert Krug, Jim McGuigan, Jim
Schmitt and James White.
The full County Board will consider the measure
Thursday. Approval is considered likely.
LOAD-DATE: May
16, 2000 
