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November 19, 2013

Daily Care, School and Daycare

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Question from Raleigh, North Carolina, USA:

In a school setting, when staff are asked to perform student’s blood sugar check, do you think that the lancet needs to be changed for every check to decrease the chance of a blood borne pathogen incident?

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

While I know that people with diabetes do not ALWAYS place a new lancet for blood glucose checks, the “right” answer is that they should.

One could argue that in the school setting, the lancet is in the child’s own glucose meter kit and it should not be used on others, etc. Still, it is not clean after the first use. Besides, the tip becomes duller over time and repeated uses making the “poke” less crisp and potentially more painful. It should be changed.

DS