B. Braun Supports The International Safety Center
Charitable contribution to benefit hospitals and healthcare workers
Bethlehem, PA – October 5, 2016 – B. Braun Medical Inc., a leader in infusion therapy and closed-system transfer devices (CSTD), has provided a charitable contribution to The International Safety Center in support of their shared commitment to improving the safety and health of those working in healthcare.
A global leader in occupational research and advocacy for safer healthcare workplaces, The International Safety Center collaborates with organizations that share a vision of a world without occupational infection or illness. This includes worker exposure to bloodborne and infectious diseases, and will now expand to include hazardous drugs. Exposure to hazardous drugs may occur at the time of sharps injuries or body fluid exposures and therefore measuring these exposures is also critical to overall healthcare worker safety.
As one of the leading suppliers of closed-system transfer devices in the United States, B. Braun places great importance on education and advocacy efforts surrounding exposure to hazardous drugs in the healthcare setting for both healthcare workers and patients.
“It is because of the generous contribution from B. Braun Medical that the Center will be able to grow and expand its world renowned Exposure Prevention Information Network (EPINet®) to include data entries designed to better capture hazardous drug exposures,” says Dr. Amber Hogan Mitchell, President and Executive Director at The International Safety Center. “Healthcare facilities can then use their own exposure data to identify where risks are occurring, put safer systems in place, and build the safest working environments for their employees and the patients and communities they care for.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published studies have shown that workplace exposures to hazardous drugs can cause both acute and chronic health effects such as skin rashes, adverse reproductive outcomes (including infertility, spontaneous abortions, and congenital malformations), and possibly leukemia and other cancers. The health risk depends on how much exposure a worker has to these drugs and how toxic they are.1
“While USP <800> will mandate the use of CSTDs for administration, there’s no national database for data entry of unintended, accidental exposure to hazardous drugs,” said Joe Cleary, Group Product Director for the OnGuard® CSTD at B. Braun. “The expansion of EPINet will give an additional outlet for reporting these incidents when sharps injuries or body fluid exposures occur, driving important data collection and trend analysis to help improve healthcare worker safety. The old adage 'no data, no problem' must continue to be challenged in today’s information age.”
Since its introduction in 1992, EPINet® has been distributed to more than 1,500 hospitals in the United States and to hospitals in nearly 100 other countries.
About B. Braun
B. Braun Medical Inc., a leader in infusion therapy and pain management, develops, manufactures, and markets innovative medical products and services to the healthcare industry. The company is committed to eliminating preventable treatment errors and enhancing patient, clinician and environmental safety. B. Braun Medical is headquartered in Bethlehem, Pa., and is part of the B. Braun Group of Companies in the U.S., which includes B. Braun Interventional Systems, Aesculap® and CAPS®.
Globally, the B. Braun Group of Companies employs more than 56,000 employees in more than 60 countries. Guided by its Sharing Expertise® philosophy, B. Braun continuously exchanges knowledge with customers, partners and clinicians to address the critical issues of improving care and lowering costs. To learn more about B. Braun Medical, visit www.BBraunUSA.com.