​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​How do I keep others safe when I'm taking a potential or reproductive hazard medicine?

There are important safety measures that you and your caregivers should follow to keep people and pets around you safe.

For their safety, tell all your healthcare providers that you're taking a potential or reproductive hazard medicine.

How long do I need to follow the safety measures?

Follow the safety measures for as long as you are taking the medicine.

Where do I get safety supplies?

You may get some safety supplies from the pharmacy or clinic where you get your medicine.

You may need to buy other supplies, such as Nitrile disposable gloves, from the pharmacy or a medical supply company.

How do I store my potential or reproductive hazard medicine?

Keep your medicine in a safe place:

• away from children and pets
• away from food and drink and places where you eat, if possible

Check the label on the medicine container and talk to your pharmacist to learn more about storing your medicine safely.​

​

​​​​​​​​​​​Is it safe for me to get pregnant or get someone pregnant?

Some potential and reproductive hazard medicine​​s may affect unborn babies while they are developing. If it's possible for you to get pregnant or get someone else pregnant, talk to your healthcare provider about birth control.

Is it safe for me to breastfeed?

Talk to your healthcare provider before you breastfeed if you're taking a potential or reproductive hazard medicine.

Ideally, a caregiver who is pregnant or breastfeeding should not handle any potential or reproductive hazard medicine. If they have to handle it, the caregiver should:

• always wear disposable gloves
• wash their hands with soap and water before putting on the disposable gloves and after taking them off
• talk to their own healthcare provider​
  

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​How do I take the medicine safely?

Always wash your hands with soap and water before and after taking a potential or reproductive hazard medicine.

If your medicine is damaged—for example, a broken pill (or powder found in the medicine container), leaking liquid, or the fluid for the injection is cloudy​—talk to your pharmacist.

Taking a pill

Don't chew, crush, dissolve, break, or open pills (tablet or capsule) unless your pharmacist tells you to.

Taking a liquid medicine 

To take the liquid medicine:

• By mouth, use the prefilled oral syringe, if your pharmacist gave you one. If your medicine isn't in a prefilled oral syringe, use an oral syringe from your pharmacist to measure out 1 dose.
• Through your feeding tube, use the prefilled tube-feeding syringe (if your pharmacist gave you one). If your medicine isn't in a prefilled tube-feeding syringe, use a tube feeding syringe and measure out 1 dose.​
  

Oral or tube-feeding syringes that are used more than once should be cleaned immediately after each use. Do not put them in boiling water, a dishwasher, or a microwave oven. Follow these steps:

1. Put on disposable gloves before cleaning the syringes (if you're a caregiver).
2. Take the plunger out of the barrel of the syringe.
3. Wash both parts in warm water and soap separately from other items.
4. Rinse them well with water to remove all the soap.
5. Place them on a clean towel or lint-free paper towel and let them air dry.
6. Store the syringe and plunger in clean container at room temperature. Do not store them in your fridge.
7. Throw out the syringe when the plunger becomes hard to move or you can't read the numbers clearly.

Taking the medicine other ways

To take a potential or reproductive hazard medicine by an injection (with a needle), follow the instructions from your healthcare provider.

To apply a potential or reproductive hazard medicine as a cream, gel, or ointment, follow the instructions from your healthcare provider.

How would a caregiver give me a potential or reproductive hazard medicine safely?

Caregivers should not touch the medicine with bare hands.

Caregivers should always do the following when giving you this medicine:

• Wear disposable gloves.
  
• Wash hands with soap and water before putting on disposable gloves and after taking them off. Do not touch other objects or surfaces while wearing disposable gloves.
  
• Give pills by pouring them into a cup (disposable, if possible) or into the cap of the medicine bottle.
  
• Follow your healthcare provider's instructions for applying the medicine as a cream, gel, or ointment.
  

​​​​​​​​​How do I or a caregiver safely throw out potential or reproductive hazard medicine?

Don't put any potential or reproductive hazard medicine in the garbage or a sharps container, and don't flush them down a toilet. If you have extra medicine, ask your pharmacy if you can return it.

Don't put any sharps (like glass vials, syringes, and needles) in the same container as unused, partly used, or expired medicine.

Caregivers should wear disposable gloves and always wash their hands with soap and water before putting on the disposable gloves and after taking off the disposable gloves.

Follow the information in the Alberta Health Services Community Based Services (Home Care) Waste Disposal brochure to know how to throw out general waste, medicine waste, sharps waste, and body fluid waste.

Keep the garbage away from children and pets.​

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Body fluids and waste include:

• urine (pee)
  
• stool (poop)
  
• blood
• vomit (throw up)
• saliva (spit)
• sweat

How does a caregiver handle my body fluids and waste safely?

While you are taking a potential or reproductive hazard medicine, some of the chemicals in the medicine may leave your body through your body fluids and waste. Contact with these fluids may harm other people or pets.

Caregivers should:​

• Try not to touch body fluids and waste.
• ​Wear disposable gloves when caring for a person who can't control their bladder or bowels.
• Wash their hands with soap and water before putting on the disposable gloves and after taking off the disposable gloves.

If you have a urinary catheter or an ostomy, caregivers should follow any other care instructions from your healthcare provider.

What if I can't control my bladder or bowels, wear diapers or pads, or throw up?

Use plastic-backed sheets or disposable plastic-backed pads on your mattress or furniture, even if you wear a diaper or pad.

Change diapers or pads right away. Your skin should be cleaned with soap and water and dried well. Throw out all disposable items with the regular garbage. Follow the information in the Alberta Health Services Community Based Services (Home Care) Waste Disposal brochure.

Try to throw up directly into the toilet. Close the toilet lid and flush, then wash your hands with soap and water.

To clean items like bedpans, urinals, or commodes, or non-disposable buckets from vomit, do the following:

1. Wash your hands with soap and water. Caregivers should also put on disposable gloves.
2. Carefully empty the waste into the toilet, close the lid and flush.
3. Wash the item with soap and water. Do this after each use and at least once per day.
4. After washing the item, pour the soap and water cleaning solution in the toilet. Then rinse the item with water and pour the rinse water in the toilet. Close the toilet lid and flush.
5. Dry the item with a paper towel.
6. Throw the paper towel and disposable gloves into a double bag and throw them out in the regular garbage (see Throwing out medicine, used supplies, and garbage).
7. Wash your hands with soap and water.​​
   

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​What if the medicine or my body fluid has contact with someone's eyes, skin, or clothes?

If the medicine or body fluids have contact with a person's eyes, skin, or clothes (including bedding), take care of the person first, and then clean up the spill. (For spill cleanup, see Cleaning up spills.)

Any clothes, towels, or bedding that has contact with the medicine or your body fluids can be washed normally.

Contact with eyes

To flush eyes that had contact with the medicine or body fluids:

1. Wash hands with soap and water. Caregivers should also put on disposable gloves.
2. If the person is wearing contact lenses, take them out and rinse them or throw them away.
   
3. Flush eyes with fresh running water while keeping eyes open.
4. Wash hands with soap and water.

Call Health Link at 811 or get medical help if needed.

Contact with skin, clothes, or bedding

To clean skin that had contact with the medicine or body fluids:

1. Wash hands with soap and water. Caregivers should also put on disposable gloves.
2. Take off the clothing or remove bedding that had contact with the medicine or body fluids. Wash clothes or bedding as you normally would.
3. Use soap and water to wash skin.
4. Pat the skin dry.
5. Wash hands with soap and water.

If the skin gets irritated or a rash starts, call your clinic, family doctor, or Health Link at 811.

​​​​​​​​​​What is a spill?

A spill could be:

• a liquid medicine
• the powder from a cut tablet or a broken capsule

Tablets or capsules that are not cut or broken but are dropped are not considered a spill. Caregivers should wear disposable gloves to pick them up, and they should be put into a separate container and returned to the pharmacy. (See Throwing out medicine.)

What supplies do I need to clean up a spill?

You will need the following supplies to clean up a spill:

• disposable gloves
• disposable rags, paper towels, or toilet paper
• 2 garbage bags

How do I clean up a spill?

Before you clean the spill:

• Keep other people and pets out of the spill area.
• If the medicine has contact with a person's eyes, skin, or clothes (including bedding), take care of the person first (See Contact with eyes or skin for first aid care.)
• Don't step in the spill or touch it with your bare hands.
• Try not to breathe in any spilled medicine.
  

Follow these steps carefully to clean the spill:

1. Wash your hands with soap and water.
2. Put on disposable gloves.
3. Only touch the spill area—nowhere else.
4. Start at the area with the smallest amount of spill and move to the area with the most spill.
5. Soak up the spill with the disposable rags, paper towels, or toilet paper. If the spill was a powder, put a little water on the rag or paper towels to help wipe up the powder.
6. Put everything used to soak up or wipe up the spill directly into the first garbage bag. Try not to touch the opening of the bag.
7. Use dish soap and warm water to wash the area using new disposable rags or paper towels.
8. Wipe the area dry with new disposable rags or paper towels.
9. Put everything used to wash the spill area into the first garbage bag.
10. Take off your disposable gloves and put them into the first garbage bag.
11. Close up the first garbage bag and put it inside the second garbage bag.
12. Close up the second bag tightly and throw it out with your regular garbage (see Throwing out medicine, used supplies, and garbage).
13. Wash your hands with soap and water.

After cleaning the spill, call your healthcare provider if you need a refill of your medicine.​