New resources announced to protect on-duty emergency responders from infectious diseases
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and partners in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced revised and updated resources to help prevent exposures of emergency response employees to potentially life-threatening infectious diseases in the line of duty.
The resources include:
• A list of potentially life-threatening infectious diseases, including emerging infectious diseases, and specifying those diseases routinely transmitted through airborne or aerosolized means.
• Guidelines describing the circumstances in which emergency response employees may be exposed to such diseases while attending to or transporting victims of emergencies.
• Guidelines for medical facilities making determinations whether such exposures have occurred.