👤 By the CinnaEMS Content Team🕐 Updated 2026-09-28🏷️ Scene Size-Up & Safety🔖 Free to read, print, and share
Also known as: PPE · BSI · standard precautions · body substance isolation · N95 respirator · exposure control · donning and doffing · hand hygiene
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Use this quick-reference guide to recognise, treat and hand over Infection Control & PPE on the NREMT and on the call. Keep it handy during review and on exam day!
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📒 The 1-minute cheat sheet
📌 Routes
Contact → gloves · gown
Droplet → surgical mask
Airborne → fitted N95
📌 Always
Hand hygiene before + after
Gloves ≠ hand hygiene
Never recap needles
✅ Doffing
Dirtiest first: gloves
Touch clean surfaces only
Wash hands last
📌 Exposure
Wash or flush now
Report immediately
Follow-up care
📚 Infection Control & PPE — full study notes
The cheat sheet above is your quick recall card. These notes go deeper — what it is, what to do first, what changes the plan, and what to hand over.
Infection control is part of scene safety: you cannot help anyone after you become the next patient. The exam tests matching the barrier to the route of spread, the order for putting on and taking off equipment, and what to do after an exposure.
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Key points
Understand these first
Standard precautions apply to every patient: treat all blood and body fluids as potentially infectious.
Match the barrier to the route: contact (gloves, gown), droplet (surgical mask), airborne (fitted N95 respirator).
Hand hygiene before and after every patient contact, and after removing gloves — gloves do not replace it.
Remove the most contaminated items first (gloves), touching only the clean inside surfaces as you go.
After a needlestick or splash: wash or flush right away, report immediately and follow up for post-exposure care.
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Treatment priorities
What to do, in order
Decide on PPE before patient contact, from dispatch information and the scene.
Put a surgical mask on a coughing patient when it does not compromise breathing.
Never recap a used needle — dispose of sharps directly into a sharps container.
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Red flags — report now
Escalate immediately
Blood or fluid splash to the eyes, mouth or broken skin
Needlestick from a used sharp
Cough with fever and weight loss (think airborne precautions)
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Patient teaching
What patients must know
Airborne spread (tuberculosis, measles, chickenpox) needs a fit-tested respirator; a surgical mask on the provider is not enough.
❓ Infection Control & PPE: NREMT FAQs
What are the priority actions for Infection Control & PPE in the field?
Decide on PPE before patient contact, from dispatch information and the scene. Put a surgical mask on a coughing patient when it does not compromise breathing. Never recap a used needle — dispose of sharps directly into a sharps container.
What findings in Infection Control & PPE change your plan or your transport decision?
Blood or fluid splash to the eyes, mouth or broken skin. Needlestick from a used sharp. Cough with fever and weight loss (think airborne precautions).
What do I need to know about Infection Control & PPE for the NREMT?
Standard precautions apply to every patient: treat all blood and body fluids as potentially infectious. Match the barrier to the route: contact (gloves, gown), droplet (surgical mask), airborne (fitted N95 respirator). Hand hygiene before and after every patient contact, and after removing gloves — gloves do not replace it. Remove the most contaminated items first (gloves), touching only the clean inside surfaces as you go.
What should the crew communicate or document for Infection Control & PPE?
Airborne spread (tuberculosis, measles, chickenpox) needs a fit-tested respirator; a surgical mask on the provider is not enough.
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Quick Tip
Standard precautions apply to every patient: treat all blood and body fluids as potentially infectious.