Minimum Standards for Tribal Child Care: A Health and Safety Guide
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Appendix: Standard Precautions
From Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs, Second Edition, (2002), page 419:
Cleaning Up Body Fluids
Treat urine, stool, vomitus, blood, and body fluids as potentially infectious. Spills of body fluid should be cleaned up and surfaces sanitized immediately.
- For small amounts of urine and stool on smooth surfaces; Wipe off and clean away visible soil with a little detergent solution. Then rinse the surface with clean water.
- Apply a sanitizer to the surface for the required contact time.
For larger spills on floors, or any spills on rugs or carpets:
- Wear gloves while cleaning. While disposable gloves can be used, household rubber gloves are adequate for all spills except blood and bloody body fluids. Disposable gloves should be used when blood may be present in the spill.
- Take care to avoid splashing any contaminated material onto the mucous membranes of your eyes, nose or mouth, or into any open sores you may have.
- Wipe up as much of the visible material as possible with disposable paper towels and carefully place the soiled paper towels and other soiled disposable material in a leak-proof, plastic bag that has been securely tied or sealed. Use a wet/dry vacuum on carpets, if such equipment is available.
- Immediately use a detergent, or a disinfectant-detergent to clean the spill area. Then rinse the area with clean water.
- For blood and body fluid spills on carpeting, blot to remove body fluids from the fabric as quickly as possible. Then spot clean the area with a detergent-disinfectant rather than with a bleach solution. Additional cleaning by shampooing or steam cleaning the contaminated surface may be necessary.
- Sanitize the cleaned and rinsed surface by wetting the entire surface with a sanitizing solution of bleach in water (1/4 cup of household bleach in 1 gallon of water) or an industrial sanitizer used according to the manufacturer's instructions. For carpets cleaned with a detergent-disinfectant, sanitizing is accomplished by continuing to apply and extract the solution until there is no visible soil. Then follow the manufacturer's instructions for the use of the sanitizer to be sure the carpet is sanitized by the treatment.
- Dry the surface.
- Clean and rinse reusable household rubber gloves, then treat them as a contaminated surface in applying the sanitizing solution to them. Remove, dry and store these gloves away from food or food surfaces. Discard disposable gloves.
- Mops and other equipment used to clean up body fluids should be:
1) Cleaned with detergent and rinsed with water;
2) Rinsed with a fresh sanitizing solution;
3) Wrung as dry as possible;
4) Air-dried.
- Wash your hands afterward, even though you wore gloves.
- Remove and bag clothing (yours and those worn by children) soiled by body fluids.
- Put on fresh clothes after washing the soiled skin and hands of everyone involved.
References:
Canadian Paediatric Society. Well Being: A Guide to Promote the Physical Health, Safety and Emotional Well-Being of Children in Child Care Centers and Family Day Care Homes, 2nd ed. Toronto, ON; 1996.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The ABC's of Safe and Healthy Child Care; 1996.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Guidelines for Prevention of Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis B Virus to Health-Care and Public Safety Workers. MMWR. 1989; 38(S-6): 1-36.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Update: Universal precautions for prevention of transmission of Human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B Virus, and other bloodborne pathogens in healthcare settings. MMWR. 1988; 37: 377-382, 387-388.
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