[mbubb]

There is a lot of confusion about PPE and disinfecting. People wear surgical masks thinking they are making themselves safe - which they arent. I think also people use magical thinking with disinfectants.

I remember one EMT call where my partner got blood on her arm. She impulsively reached for the handsantizer but I told her to wait. Took her back to the hospital (we just left) and let her wash with soap.

I felt in the moment like an alcohol based wash would just irritate her skin and open pores or perhaps breakdown the skin . When the alcohol evaporates much of the crud would still be there whereas washing with soap feels like you will better handle the issue with surfactant. Might have been wrong.

[jiofih]

I would guess that having infected blood on you, and potentially smeared in your car and other places, is quite a lot worse than drenching it in alcohol even if not fully cleaned. Why not both?

[bookofjoe]

I wiped a LOT of blood — infected and not — off my fingers, hands, and arms in the course of practicing neurosurgical anesthesiology for 38 years (now retired).

I'd guess hundreds of times.

Often — especially nights and weekends — there's no other anesthesiologist available to come to the O.R. for relief and a chance to wash it off.

In those cases, I'd ask the circulating nurse to get a bunch of towels and run them under hot water at the scrub sink, then give them to me to wipe off as best I could.