CallaFirestormBW
Posts: 3651
Joined: 6/29/2008 Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: DavidS8ist Excellent points which will probably lead to a tangental thread. First, let's think about what we mean about "cleaning". I wipe mine off with a clean rag, that's it. Then I leave the knife alone unsheathed or unfolded for a few days. Is that enough? I believe so and here's why. HIV is a very fragile bug. It dies rapidly ex vitro. So I'm not really worried about it for that reason and for the simple reason that I know anyone I cut well enough to know they're not infected. Risk? Slight. There's always a slight chance. But it's less than getting struck by lightening. HEP-C is more worrisome. It can survive for days - in a moist environment. I leave the knife out, dry, maybe in the sun if the weather's nice, I'm not giving it more thought. Too, as in HIV, I'm not cutting anyone known to be infected. Other bugs? Frankly, I'm more worried about the stuff I may come in contact with - bugs that live on the skin, staph, strep, tinea corporis, things like that. I think it's very important to be aware of the potential for infection, but at the same time, treat that awareness rationally. We've become a nation of germophobes (c'mon, folks, how many of you have more than one bottle of hand sanitizer in the home? Use antibacterial soap? Antibacterial dish detergent? Wear latex body suits before preparing chicken???), and much of that fear is unfounded. Reasonable attention will keep reasonable people reasonably safe from infection. Do I think you're wrong taking the steps you do to disinfect your knives? No. Do I think it overkill? Personally, yes, but that doesn't mean you should stop what you're doing. In my mind, with some of my blades costing hundreds of dollars, I'm not going to risk damaging them with anything but a light coating of oil occasionally. But honestly, I'm more concerned about the person sneezing behind me when I'm doing a cutting than I am about infecting Gem or anyone else with a bug on the blade. As usual, my opinion only. D. "You had your whole life to prepare for this moment. Why aren't you ready?" - David Mamet, "Spartan" I use sterile disposable scalpels for cutting. Any of our durable equipment that comes in contact with blood is run through an autoclave like this one: http://store.sterilizers.com/emerchant/itemdetail.asp?item=Z-WISC-1915X-N The reason I choose to do so, though, is because much of what I do is over a LARGE area of the body, and I also do permanent piercing and cautery, so at that level, there is a greater risk of infection. Infection means that a servant can't serve in that manner for a while -- so I do what I can to minimize downtime. CFB
< Message edited by CallaFirestormBW -- 8/12/2008 7:59:54 AM >
_____________________________
*** Said to me recently: "Look, I know you're the "voice of reason"... but dammit, I LIKE being unreasonable!!!!" "Your mind is more interested in the challenge of becoming than the challenge of doing." Jon Benson, Bodybuilder/Trainer
|