Injury and needlestick protocol

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Seeking medical care
Immediate care of the body site:
- Needlesticks and cuts: decontaminate the exposed or contaminated site immediately by washing with soap and water.
- Splashes to the nose, mouth, or skin: flush with water.
- Splashes to the eyes: Irrigate eyes with clean water, saline, or sterile irrigant.
Note the patient's name, hospital number, attending physician, and location. This will assist in determining the level of exposure from the source patient and help determine prophylactic treatment.
Incident reporting
Immediately following injury/exposure:
- Students should seek medical attention at the nearest emergency room or site-specified location.
- If the site has its own emergency room or occupational health, you will be directed to go there. If the site does not have its own emergency room or occupational health, you will go to the nearest emergency room. DO NOT DELAY!
- Medical attention may include cleansing and treating any wound, flushing splashes to the nose, mouth or skin, irrigation of eyes with saline, obtaining student blood and the patient’s blood for testing, and receiving advice regarding follow-up treatment and testing
As soon as possible following injury/needlestick:
- Seek medical care for the injury at the nearest emergency room or your clinical campus site. If on clinical campus, report the incident to the senior resident, attending physician, or supervising faculty If the injury occurs at the School of Medicine, contact Student Affairs for assistance.
- Review the site-specific procedures below and complete the necessary forms
- Report the injury to MD Health Records as soon as possible via email at MDHealthRecords@wayne.edu or by phone at 313-577-0357. The WSU Health Officer will follow up with you within 24 hours of the report to confirm next steps and coordinate support as needed.
Within 24 hours following the injury/exposure:
- IF seeking remittance for the initial hospital visit
- Complete the Report of Injury Form [Print Only] and send it to the Office of Risk Management on Wayne State University's main campus at the address below or via email using #Secure and your name in the subject line.
- Your provider should also submit both an itemized invoice for the initial visit and a medical report to:
WSU (Wayne State University) Risk Management Office.
5700 Cass, Suite 4622
Detroit, Michigan 48202
Phone: (313) 577-3110
Fax: (313) 577-8579
- Reach out to the Office of Student Affairs for general support, guidance, and referrals to navigate this challenging situation. Your class counselor can also assist in excused absences, make-up work and testing and other accommodations, as necessary.
Within 48 hours following the injury/exposure:
- Schedule necessary follow-up tests and care as designated by the WSU Health Officer
- For services/treatment beyond the initial visit, the student shall either self-pay directly to the provider or forward the invoice to the personal health insurance carrier.
- Please note that confidential consultations for injuries/needlesticks where blood-borne pathogens are of concern are available on student request or SOM health officer recommendation.
Site-specific procedures for needlestick/injury:
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Henry Ford Hospital
Daytime procedure: During business hours, (Monday-Friday 7a-4p) students will contact “Exposure RN” for counsel and education. If the exposure RN determines that the patient requires treatment for exposure, the student will be referred immediately to the emergency department
After-hours (and weekend) procedure: After hours/weekends, the medical student will report to the emergency department for evaluation and determination of the need for post-exposure prophylaxis.
Contact: Dr Nakia Allen nallen9@hfhs.org (313) 694-5556
Employee health: Employee Health Clinic/Exposure RN (313) 651-1025 7 am to 4:30 pm
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Trinity Health Oakland
Employee Health: (248) 858-3125
Site-Specific Procedures: A THEIR report must be filed. It is an icon in the ZENworks window of any Trinity Health Oakland computer called "TH work-related incident reporting".
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Ascension St. John
Daytime Procedure: Students will report to the Associate Occupational Health Office in Professional Building 1 Suite 234.
After-hours (and weekend) procedure: Students will report to the Emergency Department (Students should specify it is a workman's compensation visit)
Contact Person: Sarah Goodson (313) 343-7380, sarah.goodson@ascension.org
Site-Specific Procedure: Students will be billed for their emergency room visit and need to follow the WSU Injury Report Procedure to ensure costs are covered.
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Detroit Medical Center
Daytime and after-hours procedure:
DMC Harper University Hospital, DMC Hutzel Women’s Hospital, DMC Children’s Hospital of Michigan, DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital- Report to Detroit Receiving Hospital emergency room.
DMC Siani Grace- Report to Siani Grace emergency room.
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Veteran Affairs (VA)
Daytime procedure: Student reports to Employee Health during administrative hours.
After-hours (and weekend) procedure: Students report to the ER during non-administrative hours, weekends, and holidays with a referral from the employee’s supervisor.
Contact person: Dr. Sudhir Rao
Employee health: (313) 576-5798
Site-specific procedure: VA needlestick procedure document
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Corewell Dearborn
EHS will not see students. Students must visit the ER during and after hours.
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Ascension Providence
Daytime procedure: Notify the house supervisor or nursing supervisor of the incident, enter a VIA One incident to report the BBPE by calling 1-866-856-4835 (Sedgwick) and report to the nearest AOH location. Provide AOH with your Claim number from Sedgwick
After-hours (and weekend) procedure: Notify the house supervisor or nursing supervisor of the incident, enter a VIA One incident to report the BBPE by calling 1-866-856-4835 (Sedgwick) and report to the ED. Provide ED registration with your claim number.
Contact person: Shelly Salliotte, (248) 849-3590
Employee Health: Occupational Health (248) 849-3195
Site-specific procedure: Bloodborne pathogen exposure algorithm
Protect yourself from needlestick injuries:
- Plan for safe handling and disposal before using needles.
- Dispose of used needles promptly in sharp disposal containers.
- Complete annual blood-borne pathogen training.
- Get your hepatitis B vaccines.
- Report all sharps-related injuries to your supervisor to ensure appropriate follow-up.