(no subject)

[pozorvlak]

I found a used syringe in the street today.

It presented me with an ethical dilemma: on the one hand, I didn't like the thought of some kid playing with it and getting hepatitis C or worse, but on the other, what was I supposed to do about it? I couldn't see any bins or anything nearby, and even if I could, what about the guys who empty the bins? Leaving it alone would have ensured that I was in no danger myself, but if we only ever did the right thing when it was easy or convenient then it would be a pretty poor world. In terms that occurred to me later, the First Law trumps the Third. No doubt this situation is covered in detail in Situations You're Expected to Know How to Deal With Now That You're a Grown-up ("Nothing under 'heroin' - try under 'needles'"), but my copy must have gone missing in the post on my eighteenth birthday because I never received it¹. In the end, I picked the syringe up carefully by the plunger end through a convenient newspaper (probably the first and only time I'll be grateful to litterers), wrapped it in a bit more newspaper, then carried it down to a nearby doctor's surgery and asked them to put it in their sharps bin for proper disposal. Then I washed my hands very thoroughly, even though I hadn't actually touched it at any point :-) The nurse suggested that in future I should leave it there or call the police, who'd have the correct protective gear. Seems like a waste of police time to me, I dunno.

What would you have done?

¹ Wouldn't that be a fantastic book, though? Section headings like "My friend's just come out to me", "It sounds like my neighbour's beating his/her spouse", "Someone's having an epileptic fit in front of me", "Someone I know is feeling suicidal", "I've just been arrested", "I've just got a threatening letter from the council demanding money for x", "My kitchen's crawling with ants", things like that. Obviously it couldn't cover every situation or give step-by-step instructions in all cases - being able to deal with situations as they arise is, as far as I can tell, the point of being an adult - but you could provide helpful advice and facts. The trouble is, who'd be qualified to write it?

Comments

[michiexile]

I've had to deal with footnote sections 1 and 4. One's not a big deal, though surprising at times, and the other is still a HUGE puzzler to me.

Sounds like you're growing experienced enough to write significant portions of it though. ;-)

[totherme.livejournal.com]

I definitely wouldn't have called the police.

How far away was the Doctor's place?

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

About half a mile, maybe? Something like that.

[half-of-monty.livejournal.com]

Start it as a wiki!!

Don't know how you would keep various-agenda-nutters out, but it could be fun as long as only people who heard of it through your and your friends were aware of it.

[necaris.livejournal.com]

It might need a good bit of moderating and suchlike after some time, but sounds like a really interesting idea :-) I second this!

[oedipamaas49.livejournal.com]

just as long as the animal rights folks provide a good non-lethal means of ant control, who are we to complain?

[robhu.livejournal.com]

I think you did the right thing.

Your book idea is a really good idea! You should make it and sell it.

[johnckirk.livejournal.com]

First up, well done for doing the Right Thing. Leaving aside children, I'd say that a bigger risk (particularly in the summer) is that someone would tread on it by mistake; when I'm on duty at Notting Hill Carnival, the single most common injury is when people cut their feet on broken glass because they're wearing flipflops. (This seems to affect women more than men.)

As soon as you mentioned the needle, my immediate reaction was "sharps bin!" However, I don't carry one on me. Actually, I was interested to notice that the public toilets in Oxford (near the bus station) now have sharps bins in the cubicles, presumably as a pragmatic response to drug use. I always keep nitrile gloves in my rucksack (along with a facemask), so I would have put those on, and disposed of them afterwards: in a situation like that, I wouldn't be worried about stabbing myself, so I'd just be concerned about any fluids left on the outside of the syringe (low risk, but still best avoided). If I didn't have gloves, I normally keep a handkerchief in my pocket, so I'd use that instead (and wash it at 60 degrees afterwards). In lieu of either, newspaper should be fine - I'd just be a bit concerned about losing track of the pointy end, so I'd prefer to keep it visible and pointing downwards rather than wrapping it in something else.

I wouldn't call the police, but you could call 999 for an ambulance; they all have sharps bins onboard, so hopefully they could take a quick detour from another call.

As for your book, that sounds like a good idea; the epileptic scenario is covered in the First Aid Manual.

[johnckirk.livejournal.com]

Following up on this, I've done a quick Google search, and lots of local authorities seem to have policies for dealing with this type of situation, e.g. Melbourne, Blaby, and Lewisham. So, if you can find the appropriate phone number for your local area and store it in your phone, that might be useful.

One other idea is to use a rigid plastic bottle as a temporary solution; if you carry a bottle of water around, you could empty it out and drop the needle into that, rather than holding it directly.

[firefliesinjune.livejournal.com]

I would have picked it up by the plunger using a piece of paper (try making a cone and scooping it from the plunger forward). Then drop into any sort of plastic bottle with a lid and throw into nearby trash can. Wash hands like crazy, because I'm neurotic that way. If it had been something I found in my neighborhood, I have a grabbit pincher thing I use to pick up litter all the time. http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=pick+up+tool&btnG=Search+Images

Probably a stoopid idea: If you find these sorts of things often, carry a really big binder clip http://www.flickr.com/photos/lihab/474523246/in/set-72157600140320244/ and use it to pick up the item, an drop it.

[antoniabaker.livejournal.com]

I was pondering about this and decided that if I had nothing else i'd have to rip a bit of clothing to pick it up with, or using my hair tie, (normally pants).

Sounds like you handled it in a sensible manner.

The alternative is keep it, carefully preserve finger prints and use it as a murder weapon.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

I like it :-)

[green-jedi.livejournal.com]

Uninformed question: What would be the risk of picking up the syringe by the plunger end? What substance could be on the plunger end which may cause you harm?

I fully agree with your book idea, and would definitely buy a copy, as mine seems to have been torn to bits when I turned 18, and I've been finding isolated pages every few months ever since...

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

Potentially, bodily fluids from someone infected with Hep C/HIV/etc. As johnckirk (who does a lot of St John's Ambulance stuff) says above, it's not much of a risk, but it is there.

[susannahf.livejournal.com]

I think your plan was possibly the best you could have done with available resources. Not touching at all= good. putting needle in solid thing= good. Other places to dispose: sanitary bins in ladies loos, sharps bins in public loos, chemists.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

I think the nearest public loos were slightly further away than the surgery, and I don't think they have sharps bins in them. As it happened, we had a bottle of water with us, but I'm not sure the syringe would have fitted through the neck.