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.
no subject
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.