A.I.D.S. guidelines force boy to clean own cuts

Press, 22 September 1987, Page 15

A.I.D.S. guidelines force boy to clean own cuts

PA Wellington Education Department A.I.D.S. guidelines meant that an Upper Hutt schoolboy, Mark Gough, aged 12, had to clean his own wounds after he gashed his knee and foot playing -ugby at school. Mark scored a try during a lunchtime game on Tuesday but his dive landed him in broken glass. He eventually needed four stitches and three butterfly clips. He hobbled off to his school sickroom where two pupils on nursing duty supplied disinfectant and bandages, but refrained from treating the wounds themselves.

Mark said he asked them why they would not treat him.

They had replied that instructions were to stay away from blood because of the contamination risk “and they told me to stop blood transfusions and

that," Mark said. “I think they mean to stop my blood getting into their blood — like if they wouldn’t give me any of their germs and I wouldn’t give them any of mine.”

He said he thought they were probably concerned about diseases such as A.I.D.S. and Hepatitis B. Mark knew about A.I.D.S. because he had read about it, but he thought children should be taught about it in schools so that they really understood the risks.

He was correct about the reason for his selftreatment.

The relieving school principal, Mr Lloyd May, said the school was following Education Department A.I.D.S. guidelines written in conjunction with the Health Department, which were to avoid contact with blood. The guidelines sug-

gested wearing disposable gloves when dealing with wounds, but the school did not have gloves, and so Mark had been provided with a sponge and disinfectant and left to it, he said.

The school was not provided with gloves to follow up the guidelines. It bought its own first-aid gear from an incidentals grant.

The guidelines were issued to schools last year under the heading, “A.1.D.5.: Information, Procedures, and Guidelines for School Communities.”

They say there is a need for schools to have appropriate hygiene procedures to guard against A.1.D.5., hepatitis B, and other blood-transmitted diseases.

“Although it is extremely unlikely, it is theoretically possible for the A.I.D.S. virus to be

transmitted through a cut or abrasion,” they say. "The following procedures have been devised in conjuction with the Department of Health. They are addressed to and must be used by any member of staff or student who has gone to the assistance of a child with a cut or broken skin.” The rules are:

• Avoid contact with blood if your hands or lower arms have open cuts or unhealed wounds.

• Use disposable gloves if available and thoroughly wash with soap any body parts in contact with or splashed with blood.

• Seal anything that has been in contact with blood, such as cotton wool, in a plastic bag for disposal.

• Wipe any bloodied

areas like benches with water and then bleach, wash any carpet areas with soap, and wash and sterilise any medical instruments used.

• The general manager of the Wellington Education Board, Mr John Lelliot, said school principals and teachers were responsible for the health and well-being of their pupils. When told about Mark Gough’s case, he said, “If the mother has got any complaint she should first go to the principal, then to the school committee, and if necessary then to the board and we can investigate it.” There had been no reaction to the guidelines, he said.

The Health Department said there had been no case of a New Zealand schoolchild with fullblown A.I.D.S.