A. ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
Statement: Members of the Athletic and Physical Education Department, as a result of performing coaching and teaching duties, may come in contact with blood and other potentially dangerous infectious materials. Exposure from students may include handling of various types of wounds, various acute infectious conditions, contact lenses, etc.
Exposure: Emergencies may occur on the athletic field, in the classroom on campus, or on-the-road while visiting or playing against another college. The teacher or coach may have to administer emergency care to a student who may be infected with a disease, may be exposed to an infected person's body fluids, or may come in contact with infected body fluids through breaks in his/her skin or through the mucus membranes of the mouth or eyes. A teacher/coach may find themselves in a situation in which he/she does not know what risks or infection may be present as they may not be informed of the health risks of individual students in class or on teams.
Scope: This procedure shall apply to the following personnel:
- All inter-collegiate coaches and assistant coaches.
- All physical education instructors.
Required Action: Universal precautions will be observed by all coaches/instructors in order to prevent contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials. All blood or other potentially infectious material will be considered contaminated regardless of the perceived status of the source individual.
All coaches/instructors shall adhere to the following specific procedures which are intended to prevent contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials.
Handling of Potentially Infectious Materials
- All coaches/instructors shall wear appropriate protective equipment whenever handling potentially infectious materials.
- All items which are soiled with blood or other potentially infectious material will be stored in sealed, appropriately labeled, red plastic bags.
- All protective equipment shall be disposed of in the appropriate biohazard disposal bag after use.
- In the event a person's clothing is penetrated by blood, that item shall be removed as soon as feasible, stored in a biohazard bag, and appropriately cleaned at no expense to the individual. At no time will an employee take home an article of clothing which has been penetrated by blood.
Personal Protective Equipment
- All personal protective equipment will be provided without cost to employees.
- Personal protective equipment will be worn based on the anticipated exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials. This equipment will be considered appropriate only if it does not permit blood or other potentially infectious materials to pass through or reach the members' clothing, skin, eyes, mouth, or other mucous membranes under normal conditions of use and for the duration of time which the protective equipment will be used.
- Gloves are provided as protective equipment and shall be worn whenever exposure to blood or other potentially infectious material is anticipated.
Hepatitis B Vaccine
- All coaches/instructors who incur an exposure incident will be offered the Hepatitis B vaccine at no cost to them.
- Coaches/instructors who decline the Hepatitis B vaccine will sign a copy of the waiver (Appendix A).
- Coaches/instructors who initially decline the vaccine, but who later wish to have it may then have the vaccine provided at no cost.
Post-Exposure Evaluation and Follow-Up
1. When a member incurs an exposure incident, it should be reported to the Director of Athletics.
2. All coaches/instructors who incur an exposure incident will be offered a post- exposure evaluation and follow-up in accordance with the OSHA Standard. This follow-up will include the following:
- Documentation of the route of exposure and the circumstances related to the incident.
- The identification of the source individual and his/her status if possible. After consent has been obtained, the blood of the source individual will be tested for HIV/HBV infectivity.
- The results of testing of the source individual will be made available to the exposed employee with the exposed employee informed about the applicable laws and regulations concerning disclosure of the identity and infectivity of the source individual.
- Coaches/instructors will be offered the option of having their blood collected for testing of their HIV/HBV serological status. Blood samples will be preserved for 90 days to allow members to decide if the blood shall be tested for HIV serological status.
- Coaches/instructors will be offered post-exposure prophylaxis in accordance with the current recommendations of the United States Public Health Service.
- Coaches/instructors will be given appropriate counseling concerning precautions to take.during the period following the exposure incident. They will also be given information on what potential illnesses to be alert for and to report any such illnesses.
- It shall be the responsibility of the Director of Athletics to assure that the policy outlined herein is effectively carried out.
Interaction with Health Care Professionals
1. A written opinion shall be obtained from the health care professionals who evaluate coaches/instructors. Written opinions shall be obtained in the following instances:
- When the coach/instructor is sent to obtain the Hepatitis B vaccine.
- When the coach/instructor is sent to a health care professional following an exposure incident.
2. Health care professionals shall be instructed to limit their opinions to:
- Whether the Hepatitis B vaccine is indicated, if the employee received the vaccine, or if an evaluation following an incident was conducted.
- That the coach/instructor has been informed of the results of the evaluation.
- That the coach/instructor has been told about any medical condition resulting from exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials.
Training
Training for all coaches/instructors will be conducted prior to initial assignment of tasks where occupational exposure may occur, as well as yearly retraining. Training for coaches/instructors will include:
- The OSHA Standard for Bloodborne Pathogens.
- Epidemiology and symptomatology of bloodborne diseases.
- Modes of transmission of bloodborne pathogens.
- This procedure.
- Procedures which might cause exposure to blood or other infectious materials.
- Control methods which will be used to control exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials.
- Personal protective equipment available.
- Post-exposure evaluation and follow-up.
- Signs and labels used on this campus.
- Hepatitis B vaccine program.
Recordkeeping
All records required by the OSHA Standard will be maintained by the Office of Human Resources.