bloodborn pathogen safety question

[Woodsy]

A fellow CAP member asked me a question tonight that I did not know the answer to...

Several months ago, this member was at a squadron meeting where a cadet doing PT fell and scraped himself up pretty bad, and though not seriously injured, had pretty significant bleeding.  The SM used his BDU jacket to apply pressure and treat the bleeding.  It was not covered in blood, but there was a fair amount (typical of a busted knee and elbow) on isolated areas of his jacket.  He placed it in a trash bag, took it home and put it in his garage and forgot about it until finding it a few days ago.  He had intended to throw it away.

He raised the question that since the amount of blood was small, maybe an ounce or 2, and since the incident happened about 4 months ago, would he be OK just to wash it a few times and return to wearing the BDU jacket? He said he thought that any sort or dangerous bacteria, or viruses/pathogens in the blood would be long dead.  He also said the blood was on the inside of the jacket and had not bled through, so it would not be an appearance issue at all. 

I told him I had a similar incident in August where I was returning from a SAREX and witnessed a car accident and used my BDU jacket to treat bleeding, though much more significant (I posted about that here at the time.)  The fire rescue crew on scene gave me a HAZMAT bag that I put it in, and took it away with them. 

So, my question to any of you healthcare pro's is with the 4 months since the incident, would it be safe to simply wash the jacket and wear it again, or is it a total loss that should be thrown away? He said that with the cost of the jacket, name tapes, wings, rank insignia, and evidently he paid a tailor 5 bucks to sew each item on (going rate around here, I did the same) he probably has 100 bucks into it, so doesn't want to throw it away if it can be salvaged.

Thoughts?

[Garibaldi]

Most everything that I know of will die off after a week or two, but there are a few exceptions to the rule. I doubt ebola is rampant right now  . If the SM in question didn't take precautions at the scene by wearing gloves and protecting himself at the time, and washing up right away, I'd say that the chances of anything dangerous being transmitted are very low. I'd still wash it in very hot water a couple of times just to be sure.

[sarmed1]

most bloodborne diseases die pretty quickly outside of the body, the one exception I know of is Hepatitis C...it can live for weeks, dormant in  dried blood.

I would reccomend with gloves(medical type) gently clean off with soap and warm/hot water any spots soiled with blood (1:10000 bleach solution is the prefered killer, but not sure if that will discolor the fabric to make it not serviceble) once any gross contamination is cleaned off, regular wash.  As a precaution, without other "clean" clothing

mk

[tsrup]

I have a pair of scrubs that got pretty bloody after a shift in the ER, I pretreated with Iodine, washed normally (by themselves).  Came out looking fine.  Iodine should kill/remove most nasties and dried blood.

[Woodsy]

I have a pair of scrubs that got pretty bloody after a shift in the ER, I pretreated with Iodine, washed normally (by themselves).  Came out looking fine.  Iodine should kill/remove most nasties and dried blood.

Will iodine ruin the color of BDU's, name tapes, insignia, etc?

Went to a local squadron meeting tonight and one of the members there (retired RN, flight surgeon, ex region HSO from another region, NSC instructor,  and probably the most decorated and experienced Master Observer in CAP since WWII) told me nothing bad would live in dried blood past a month... 

She advised to scrub the dried blood off (with protective gear of course) and wash it in hot water by itself with a heavy dose of detergent a few times, then a couple of clean rinses with just hot water. 

[SARDOC]

Put Gloves on...Hand Wash off the remaining dried blood.  Put in Washing Machine on Hot....Just a touch of bleach or a detergent with bleach.  Wash it by itself.  Throw it in the Dryer on Hot until completely dry.  Run your washing machine empty for a rinse cycle.  Done.

[Eclipse]

Throw it in the wash and move on with your life, anyone who has kids has seen more then their share of bodily fluids strewn about, from both
family and non-family sources.

I'd be more concerned about the colorfast qualities of the jacket then any bugs still lurking in the stains.  Be careful of some of the internet recommendations as they will work, but may bleach out the color.  We've had good luck with hydrogen peroxide and salt, but mostly for whites.

You should also be careful of the water temp - send it through too many times in uber-hot water and you might wind up with a GI Joe-sized jacket.

One might also ask what the heck the person was thinking using his jacket for first aid.  There should have been a first aid kit in
relative proximity to an activity like this, and using a piece of clothes off your back risks introducing all manner of nastiness into the
wound.

[tsrup]

I have a pair of scrubs that got pretty bloody after a shift in the ER, I pretreated with Iodine, washed normally (by themselves).  Came out looking fine.  Iodine should kill/remove most nasties and dried blood.

Will iodine ruin the color of BDU's, name tapes, insignia, etc?

Went to a local squadron meeting tonight and one of the members there (retired RN, flight surgeon, ex region HSO from another region, NSC instructor,  and probably the most decorated and experienced Master Observer in CAP since WWII) told me nothing bad would live in dried blood past a month... 

She advised to scrub the dried blood off (with protective gear of course) and wash it in hot water by itself with a heavy dose of detergent a few times, then a couple of clean rinses with just hot water.

No change in color quality, and no stains in my scrubs left. 

Mind you the blood was less than 24 hours old when I washed them, so kind of necessary. 


Iodine's use with dried blood is not just it's antiseptic ability, but it (like hydrogen peroxide) also destroys the blood cells.  So it will make it easier for the old dried blood to completely wash out.

If it is really a month old though, then I don't see a problem with regular wash, maybe pre-scrub with detergent.