Step 28: Discard used equipment and clean the work surface

Guidelines:

• All equipment except the tourniquet should be thrown away.  Tourniquets should be thrown away if they get blood on them.
• Put used needles and syringes in a sharps disposal container or other hard container with a lid.  Lock or seal the container lid closed when it is full.  Depending on the laws where you live, you can burn it, take it to a hospital that will destroy it, or put it in the trash can on collection day.

Cautions:

• To avoid sticking yourself, do not recap needles.
• Keep the sharps disposal container out of the reach of children.
• Do not let children play with used syringes.  They could get an infection.