Work-Related Injury

I'm not a helicopter pilot, crab fisherman, truck driver, convenience store clerk, or construction worker. So getting hurt on the job is not a major risk for me. That said, it can happen. I'm unlikely to drown in icy seas, crash and be immolated by the resulting fireball, get shot by a meth-addled holdup artist, or cut off any bits.

But stick a sharp metal implement into my own thumb through a glove covered in someone else's blood? Yeah, that can happen.

My first thought was denial: nah, I didn't just cut myself. Then I looked at my broken glove, took it off and looked at my broken skin. I got a little angry at myself for making such a stupid mistake. Then I started bargaining: maybe if I wash it off real quick with soap and water it'll be OK. While I was washing my hands, I felt a little down...and then I got over it and went back to work.

After this classic Kubler-Ross progression I figured I could just jump back in and finish the shift, but my attention kept drifting back to the incident, how I could have prevented it, how much paperwork I'd have to deal with, what communicable diseases did the patient have, etc. By the time I got home I was so tired I just crawled into bed and passed out.

Today I went to the Employee Health center to get the source patient's test results. They weren't ready yet. Grr. I should get a phone call tomorrow to find out if I've been exposed to any major communicables.

UPDATE: it's only 5 days later, but I finally have my results: The source patient is NEGATIVE for all major communicable diseases. That means I couldn't catch any badness from him. I'm also negative, but we knew that.

The good news is that the exposure was pretty minimal. The implement was clean before it went through my glove, there was minimal skin breakage, I was able to wash the affected area immediately--all of which minimize the chance of infection. Still, I'm not expecting to sleep well tonight.