Injecting involves blood. Hepatitis C lives in blood. Blood particles are so small they can’t be seen without a microscope. When people inject drugs together and share equipment, blood particles can easily be passed on from one person to another. Being blood aware means being alert to what is happening throughout the process of injecting. The aim is to avoid exposing yourself, or someone else, to viruses that live in blood such as hepatitis C.

Preparation

• Chose a safe place to use, preferably private, clean and well lit.

• Use soapy water or swabs to clean down the table or surface you will be using.
  

• Keep everything you need in easy reach.
  

What will you need?

• New clean fits

• Unopened sterile water or boiled, cooled water

• New unopened swabs

• New filters (cotton wool from unopened sterile cotton wool)

• Clean spoon

• Clean tourniquet
  

Mixing up

• Before you start, wash your hands and arms with warm soapy water right up to above your elbow or above where you are planning to inject. If you don’t have access to a tap and soap, use swabs to clean your arms and hands, particularly the bits that will be in contact with injecting equipment such as the tips of your fingers.

• Clean the spoon by swabbing in one direction and letting it dry before putting in the drugs.

• Use your sterile fit to draw up the water from a newly opened ampoule of sterile water, or cooled boiled water in a clean glass.

• Add water to the drugs in the spoon. Mix up with the plunger end of the fit, but be careful not to touch it or put it in your mouth before mixing.

• Filter with cotton from cotton balls (from unopened packs if possible), or an unopened tampon.

• Filter tips from tobacconists are better than cigarette filters as they don’t have fibreglass in them.

• Draw up mix by gently laying eye of needle onto the filter in spoon or plastic bag.

• Remove air from fit by pointing fit upwards and tapping on side, so bubbles will rise.
  

Injecting

• Place tourniquet above your injection site, but don’t tighten.

• Swab injection site in one direction to clean. Wiping swabs back and forth can drag dirt and bacteria back across the injection site.

• Tighten your tourniquet, but don’t leave on too long.

• Put needle in at 45% angle and keep your arm outstretched. Blood will sometimes appear in plunger of fit when needle is in the vein.

• Slowly pull back the plunger and blood will appear if needle is in the vein.

• If no blood appears, withdraw the needle slowly after loosening the tourniquet. Keep the arm outstretched and add pressure to the injection site with clean cotton ball. Take a big breath and start again.

• When you’re sure the needle is in, loosen the tourniquet and slowly depress the plunger.

• If you feel any resistance or pain, you have most probably missed or “popped” the vein. If this happens, withdraw the needle slowly after loosening the tourniquet as described above.

• Start again in another site.

• When finished, slowly remove the needle. Keep your arm outstretched and apply pressure to injection site with clean cotton ball (or tissues or toilet paper).

• After injecting, don’t use a swab on the site as the alcohol in the swab may stop your blood from clotting and you may find it difficult to stop the bleeding.

Cleaning up

If you think you might have to re-use your fit you should rinse it straight away in clean, cold tap water as this will remove most of the blood.

• Recap your fit, mark it and store in a safe place.

• Dispose of the water you used to clean it.
  

If you are sure you will not be re-using your fit, dispose of it straight away after using. Don’t recap. Just place in a disposal container immediately after injection. If you do not have a proper disposal bin use a puncture proof, child proof container (one with a lid that can be securely closed).

• If possible return the bin and/or other bits of equipment to local needle and syringe program (NSP).

• Wipe down the area you mixed up in with soapy water or bleach.

• Don’t re-use swabs, filters or open water ampoules as they are contaminated after opening. Dispose of all of it by putting in a disposal container or double bag and put into household rubbish.

• When you’ve cleaned up, wash your hands and arms with warm soapy water or swabs.
  

This article was based on the new AIVL resource, A Guide to Safer Injecting.

Illustrations by Tony Sawrey

Download print version [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 478.57 KB]

Comments (0)