Policy 5141.23 - Infectious Disease Prevention
Series: 5000 - Students
Policy: 5141.23 - Infections Disease Prevention
Adopted: 06/02/1998
Last Revised: 09/21/2004 (technical revision)
Download Policy 5141.23 - Infections Disease Prevention PDF (English)
Download Rule 5141.23 - Infections Disease Prevention PDF (English)
Infectious Disease Prevention
The Board of Education recognizes its responsibility to consistently take precautions to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. A comprehensive approach to disease prevention requires the cooperation of the home and the community.
All students and employees shall be informed of the universal precautions to be used whenever anyone is exposed to blood or other body fluids through injury, illness, or accident. Science laboratory instruction shall be designed to protect students from contact with body fluids and with contaminated needles, sharps and other objects.
Legal References
Rule 5141.23
Control of Science Laboratory Lessons
Before a class works with blood or blood products, the teacher must explain the potentially hazardous nature of blood, emphasizing the fact that through blood, various agents can be transmitted from one person to another. Before and after doing laboratory work, students must always wash hands with soap and water, dry hands, and cover any existing cut, wound, or open sore with a sterile dressing. The following techniques also must be used when students are working with human blood:
- Specific procedures and safety precautions shall be explained carefully before starting each laboratory exercise.
- Wherever possible, blood typing experiments shall be conducted by teacher demonstrations rather than being performed by individual students.
- Students always shall work with their own blood, or shall use prepackaged ABO/Rh blood cell kits that have vials of blood previously tested for transmissible agents.
- Students shall use individual sterile lancets for finger punctures, and lancets must not be reused.
- Before the finger is punctured, it shall be wiped with a piece of cotton that has been immersed in alcohol.
- If bleeding persists after the finger is punctured, the student shall apply a sterile bandage using moderate pressure.
- Large beakers of a solution consisting of one part bleach to ten parts water (1:10) shall be placed throughout the room. Lancets and any other materials with blood on them must be discarded into the solution. Solution shall be made fresh each day.
- At the end of the class, laboratory desks shall be wiped with alcohol or 1:10 dilution of bleach.
Techniques similar to the above shall be used when working with any other body fluids.
