Transmission of disease via blood.

[Ducy]

Hey guys, I'm a little...worried (guess that could be the word) about the possible spread of a disease through blood.

About an hour ago, a member from the gym came to me bleeding like crazy. He asked for a bandaid and showed me his finger, which looked like it had literaly exploded outward (between the second and third nuckle.

Now my first response was to apply pressure using a gauze pad, and after soaking through 3 or four, I managed to get the bleeding down a little and wrap it up. He didn't wanna go to the ER because he was a foreign exchange student with no med insurance accept through his school (basically was gonna wait till morning to go to the school doc)

Now that he's gone I've discovered that I have some blood around my fingernail. I immediately washed and applied some rubbing alcohol, but I'm very curious as to my risk of infection. I have no open wound, but the area around my nail feels odd (presuming its my mind playing tricks). Is it possible to transmit from under my nail (even if I have no injuries such as biting or clipping it down to the soft skin?

[Brandye]

Whatever is in his bloodstream becomes available to anyone touching the blood. This includes many diseases and is the reason that used needles are considered hazardous waste.

In reality, your chances are low of contracting a disease, even if he is carrying something. Take this as a warning to be careful. Perhaps some gloves would be available in a facility such as yours.

[EvilEvilKitten]

In the absence of an injury, chances are small. Your skin is pretty good at doing its job if unbroken.

BTW - how did the accident happen and did you take steps to rectify whatever the cause was?

[big916]

I would be much more concerned if you got in a fist fight and broke each others skin. Gloves are a good idea to have at the gym

[funinthesun]

All the trainers I've known and gyms keep multiple boxes of gloves all over the place for this reason. I'd guess a dropped weight or part of a finger pinched between plates or along a cable would cause a wound like that where the tissue gets stretched out then torn. Things that get hit at an angle are the ones that usually look like something exploded out and the direct hits just have a small surface wound and a lot more underneath. It's remarkably easy to get one like that once ppl start using 100lb plates and get a little careless.

[Ducy]

There were gloves. My initial worry was getting the bleeding to stop and to get him seated. Most people I know who inflict such a wound would black out just from the initial shock. The fact that he had walked all the way from the back area of the top floor to the down stairs front desk was pretty surprising.

He had tripped over a dumbell that someone else left and had caught his finger between the machine. He thought it was broken at first. But it was just horibbly mangled