Blood Policy
The health and safety of players, parents, and spectators is an important responsibility for all team managers, coaches, and assistants and therefore it is necessary to familiarise yourself and the members of your team with the Blood Policy, summarised below:
- Any player that is bleeding will be asked to leave the playing court immediately
- The affected player will not be permitted to return to the playing court until:
-
The bleeding area is treated and securely covered.
-
All blood is completely cleaned from the player.
-
Any uniform items that have blood (wet or dry) on them have been exchanged for a clean uniform.
- Any blood spilt on the floor is wiped thoroughly with the provided disinfectant solution (see “Blood Clean-Up Kit” below).
- Persons attending to bleeding players and blood on surfaces should:
-
Take precautions to avoid contact with any body fluids, particularly blood, or soiled items, even if the risk is low.
-
Take care to avoid blood from the wounded player coming into contact with skin punctures or cuts, particularly on the fingers, or reaching the eyes or the mucous membranes of the nose or mouth.
-
Always wear latex, disposable surgical gloves in anticipation of contact with body fluids from the nose, mouth or a wound when touching nasal mucous membranes or broken skin (abrasions, dermatitis) or when handling soiled objects. The gloves must be discarded after use.
-
Thoroughly wash hands before and particularly immediately after contact with the person being treated, even if gloves have been worn. Wash all areas that have come into contact with body fluids.
- All blood incidents must be reported immediately (via SMS or phone call) to the club secretary.
Blood Clean-up Kit
A blood clean-up kit, comprising of disinfectant, latex gloves, wipes, and disposal bags will be made available at each training venue to facilitate the clean up of any spilt blood. Arrangement for these kits are currently being finalised and they will be distributed to each of the training venues as soon as possible.
Once the affected area has been cleaned up, using the provided disinfectant and wipes, all soiled items (e.g. wipes and gloves) should be placed into one of the provided disposal bags and the tied securely before disposal.