How to Use a BD Autoguard

Venipuncture is the process of obtaining intravenous access for the purpose of medication or fluid administration. This procedure is common within the hospital and pre-hospital healthcare settings. A common complication of this procedure, needle-stick, involves the caregiver. A stick with a contaminated needle could transmit AIDS, hepatitis and other blood borne pathogens. The BD Autoguard catheter comes equipped with a patented push-button needle-shielding system that retracts the needle and flash chamber into a protective covering. This safety mechanism has proven in preliminary studies to reduce needlestick injuries by over 90 percent.

Things You'll Need

• Gloves
• Sharps container
• IV tubing

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Instructions

• 1

  Wash hands thoroughly with hot water and soap. Pay attention to areas that may hide bacteria, such as wrists and nail beds. Following hand hygiene techniques is critical when preparing to perform a venous access technique.

• 2

  Don a pair of disposable gloves and any other personal protective equipment that is required by protocol.

• 3

  Remove the plastic protective cover from the needle using a quick straight motion away from the body of the catheter.

• 4

  Examine all sides of the needle and catheter. Discard the catheter and needle in an appropriate sharps container, if any defects are found.

• 5

  Grasp the body of the catheter in your dominant hand with your thumb on one side and your middle finger on the other side. Position the needle over the site with the bevel pointed upward.

• 6

  Perform the venipuncture at the desire site. Look for the blood return in the flash chamber of the BD Autoguard. The blood return is a sign that you have properly entered the vein.

• 7

  Lower the Autoguard unit and advance it approximately 1/8 inch. This is to insure the catheter is securely within the vein.

• 8

  Hold the flash chamber still and carefully advance the catheter off the needle and into the vein. Do not completely remove the needle from the end of the catheter.

• 9

  Apply pressure just above the venipuncture site with the non-dominant hand. Depress the button on the top portion of the needle, as the needle reaches the end of the catheter. This action will retract the needle and flash chamber into the protective covering. Depress the button a second time, if the needle does not immediately retract.

• 10

  Discard the unit in a sharps container.

• 11

  Connect IV tubing or injection adapter to the end of the catheter. Release the pressure above the venipuncture site and secure the catheter and tubing according to protocol.