BitePRO® Bite Resistant Arm Guards are a reliable way of protecting healthcare and education professionals from human bites, nips and scratches.
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 due to a number of factors. The bacterial inoculum of human bite wounds contains as many as 100 million organisms per millilitre and is made up of 190 different species. A large number 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 simplex virus (HSV), syphilis, tuberculosis, actinomycosis, and tetanus."
The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology states:
...bite injuries represent 1% of all emergency department admissions in the United States.
Data released by the UK’s NHS Security Management Service reveals:
...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.
Based on this statement and statistic, should we not at least consider bite resistant arm guards as a tool to mitigate that risk?
Mark Perry, appeared close to tears at the NASUWT (largest teachers union in the UK) conference in 2009 where he told fellow delegates about his experiences with disturbed ten-year-olds in Wrexham, North Wales. He recounts how he was once bitten so hard that blood was drawn.
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. Suzanne states:
"Biting is quite a big issue in special schools and when risk assessments are completed it's usual to put in the control measure of a protective arm guard"
(taken from UK newspaper ‘Daily Mail’, printed 16th April 2009)
Debbie Townsend, Physical Intervention Training Manager of the Oxfordshire Learning Disability NHS Trust (UK) says:
"Human bites can cause both physical injury, risk of infection, soft tissue damage and psychological distress to staff. Whilst our staff teams are usually aware of the potential for bites from records of previous incidents and preventative steps are taken, additional measure such as bite resistant clothing, to protect staff from a bite may be beneficial."
How can bite resistant arm guards help?
Bite related injuries can become infected and injury could become contaminated with pathogens. Transmissions of potentially life-threatening viruses, such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C or HIV are also a possibility. Therefore, protective clothing which can prevent human teeth from penetrating the skin must be a worthwhile investment for organisations wanting to protect its staff.
If you look at the potential and realistic consequences of a human bite, I strongly suggest you look at all possible to protect yourself effectively when dealing with individuals displaying any types of challenging behavior.
For these reasons, bite resistant arm guards and bite resistant clothing have recently been issued to countless professionals in countries around the world, therefore reducing the risk of workplace violence related injuries, severe, infections and bruising.
"I have to say we have been very impressed with the help from all persons contacted at BitePRO... As you are probably aware we are a special needs school, which deals with very challenging behaviour, that includes tearing and biting of garments and bedding; finding your company was a godsend to say the least. We have used your arm guards for biting and your material made into pillow covers for some of our children and found they were great for the prevention of holes being made in them." P. Blower, The Loddon School, UK
There's no question about it… our range of bite resistant arm guards will significantly decrease the risk of injuries and subsequently reduce the risk of infections and cross contamination. The time for makeshift arm guards is over. Too many professionals have historically used improvised protection that we deem inadequate, offering inferior protection:
Please allow us to recommend our VERSION 3 model, our most popular product, designed with the help of many healthcare professionals. But we have also made available two additional models of our ‘VERSION 1’ and ‘VERSION 4’ Arm Guards for, which provide additional padded protection from blunt force trauma /impact, protecting the wearer from the risk of infection following a human bite as well as effectively reducing the severity of potentially extremely painful bruising.
However, based on numerous conversations I've had over the past few years, I can certainly confirm that most sectors seem to be concerned the most about the risk of infection.
Please take a look at our comprehensive product page.
If you want to discuss the potential use of bite resistant arm guards within your organisation, then please contact us.
Many of our international customers seem to love our ‘grab bag’ concept. The BitePRO® Grab Bag contains a range of Arm Guards for biting as well as bite resistant Turtleneck Jackets. Staff can choose from these bite resistant garments based on their requirements at the time. Purchasing the Grab Bag will save 20% on the cost of buying the contents individually.
Take good care of yourself.
