Post death procedure - East Cheshire NHS Trust

The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) in the publication Containmentof biological agents according to hazard and categories of containment (4 th ed. 1995),contains guidance on the biological agents referred to in the control of SubstancesHazardous to Health Regulations 1994.The four categories of classification of biological agents are:Group 1 – Low Risk – Unlikely to cause human disease.Group 2 – Medium Risk – can cause human disease and may be a hazard to employees;it is likely to spread to the community and there is usually effective prophylaxis or treatmentavailable.Group 3 – High Risk – can cause severe human disease and may be a serious hazard toemployees; it may be spread to the community, but there is usually effective prophylaxis ortreatment available.Group 4 – Very High Risk – causes human disease and is a serious hazard to employees;it is likely to spread to the community and there is usually no effective prophylaxis ortreatment available.Group 1 – 3 will normally be covered by policies already established by the InfectionPrevention & Control Team and will be available through the Infection Prevention & ControlManual.Group 4 will require extra ordinary precautions and will generally NOT be admitted ornursed at the MDGH, unless absolutely unavoidable. In ALL cases of suspected Group4 patients, the Infection Prevention & Control Team MUST BE INFORMEDIMMEDIATELY. During normal working hours, contact via extensions 1810, 1769, 1597,1417 or bleep 3102, 3034, 3449. Out of normal working hours via the hospitalswitchboard.Once the Team have been notified they will respond to the ward or department and givesupport and guidance to management and staff.NB. The Health Protection Agency categorise cadavers as Low, Medium, High and High(rare). For completeness, both Groups 1 – 4 and categories Low to High (rare) havebeen included in the table (Appendix I).It must always be remembered that any body has the potential to be infectious andUniversal Precautions MUST always be used as a minimum standard.LEGISLATION, GUIDANCE AND REFERENCESAdvisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (1995)Protection Against Bloodborne Infections in the Workplace – HIV & HepatitisAIDSLINK August/September 1990Suggested Procedure following HIV Death at Home29/34