Texas Health Fort Worth
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue
Fort Worth, TX 76104
Phone: 817-250-2000
Bloodborne pathogen exposures (HIV, HBV, HCV)
Students on rotations should access the services and follow the procedures at their rotation site rather than trying to access the Occupational Health Program at UNTHSC.
No prior approvals are required to access services for bloodborne pathogen exposures related to work or study at UNTHSC.
It is critical to get your exposure evaluated within 2 hours of the exposure, especially in the case of a high risk injury with a known positive source.
Inform your instructor, supervisor or major professor or laboratory manager of the exposure, as appropriate.
If the source is a living human being in a clinical or research setting, try to obtain three red top tubes of blood from the source individual to take with you to the occupational health clinic. Place the tubes in a zip lock bag, zip the bag, and then place the bag inside a secondary container such as a plastic box and take the box with you to the service provider. The service provider will test both your blood and the blood of the source in order to guide their clinical decision-making regarding your situation.
Proceed directly to the location of the current service provider (see top for address, phone number and map) during regular hours of operation, and for after hours and weekend incidents go to the location indicated at the top of page 1. In either case, inform the front desk person you have sustained a bloodborne pathogen exposure and you want to be followed later at the service providers’ clinic.
After your exposure has been evaluated, call Human Resources in a timely manner to inform them you accessed the Priority Care Clinic.
In all cases, complete a supervisor’s investigation of injury form. It’s part of the workers’ compensation packet on the Human Resources web site.
If you are a student and receive a paycheck from the HSC (teaching assistant, research assistantship, work-study) and you were injured during the role and scope of that paid work, you need to complete the other forms in the workers’ compensation packet and return them to Human Resources.
All faculty and staff need to complete the full workers’ compensation packet and return it to Human Resources, if the injury occurred while you were working within the role and scope of your job.
All other kinds of injuries
If you are a faculty or staff member, and you are injured during the role and scope of your job, and the injury is not a bloodborne pathogen exposure, you are required to use the current network of health care providers with whom the State Office of Risk Management has contracted to provide worker’s compensation covered care. Human Resources is the point of contact for reporting your injury and directing you to a network provider for follow-up care.
If you are a student and you are injured during the role and scope of your paid job at the health science center, you must follow the directions above.
If you are a student or volunteer and you are not employed by the health science center, you are not covered by workers’ compensation. You should follow the requirements of your private health insurance when seeking care for your injury.
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