Bite Resistant Clothing | Effective Protection From Human Bites
BitePRO® Bite Resistant Clothing effectively helps protect special educational needs teachers, mental health care professionals and specialists within high security hospitals from human bites.
So why are human bites scary?
According to Jeffrey Barrett (MD Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine), approximately 10%-15% of human bite wounds become infected owing to multiple factors. The bacterial inoculum of human bite wounds contains as many as 100 million organisms per millilitre and is made up of as many as 190 different species. Many of these are anaerobes that flourish in the low redox environment of tartar that lies between human teeth or in areas of gingivitis.
“Human bites have been shown to transmit hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes simplexvrus (HSV), syphilis, tuberculosis, actinomycosis, and tetanus.”
According to The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, bite injuries represent 1% of all emergency department admissions in the United States!
According to data released by the UK’s NHS Security Management Service, mental health care professionals are far more likely to be attacked than other health care workers with a total of 38,958 assaults in 2008-09, accounting for 71% of attacks on health care staff during that period. However, the percentage of which involved human bites is unknown.
Mark Perry, seemed close to tears when attending the NASUWT (largest teachers union in the UK) conference in 2009 and describing his experiences with a group of ten year olds in Wales. One of his experiences included being bitten so hard that blood was drawn. This was clearly a traumatic experience and something he believes has a strong message.
It doesn’t stop there either, this is one of many traumatic experiences we hear about. Ranging from open wounds to nerves, tendons and even muscles being pulled away from limbs. Anything which causes pain, stress or discomfort can have lasting damage not only physically but psychologically too.
Another delegate, Suzanne Nantcurvis, a geography teacher from Llangollen, North Wales, said she knew members who had been forced to pay for immunisations and protective equipment. ‘Biting is quite a big issue in special schools and when risk assessments are completed it is usual to put in the control measure of a protective arm guard,’ she said. (UK newspaper ‘Daily Mail’, printed 16th April 2009)
Debbie Townsend, Physical Intervention Training Manager of the Oxfordshire Learning Disability NHS Trust says:
“Human bites can cause both physical injury, risk of infection, soft tissue damage and psychological distress to staff. Whilst our staff teams are generally aware of the potential for bites from records of previous incidents and preventative steps are taken, additional measures such as bite resistant clothing, to protect staff from a bite may be beneficial.”
In my opinion, there’s no better way to significantly decrease the risk of injuries associated with bites. Being proactive in such a simple way could save so much trauma for so many. So….
“Apparently” I have developed into a globally recognised and respected expert on bite resistant clothing for mental health care, special educational needs schools and secure/psychiatric hospitals and I would be delighted to hear from you.
We want to help people around the world. Getting our message across will save so many people from going through related trauma and help to provide a safe working environment. Using BitePRO® Bite Resistant Clothing is simple and the most effective form of PPE.
David Watts, Director of Risk and Safety of Priory Group, one of the UK’s leading and most respected provider of mental health care clinics stated:
“Whilst we are in the fortunate position to only need to use BitePRO® Bite Resistant Clothing and arm guards in rare circumstances, when it has been used, we have received very favourable feedback. I am absolutely certain that the use of this equipment has helped to advert serious incidents and serious injury.”
Sterling Barbosa of Valley Achievement Center (California, USA) stated very recently:
“In my field of helping people with disabilities, we often face daily challenges but with the peace of mind that our staff are well protected, we are able to attend to the needs of the clients without having to worry about becoming injured. So far through daily use of BitePRO Arm Guards, my staff have not been injured on their arms while wearing the sleeve guards and are completely satisfied with the high-quality products.”
Have a nosy at our website to find out what we provide and how we can help you.
