Does Your Body Armour Protect You From Hypodermic Needles?
Hypodermic needles pose a serious and realistic threat to
domestic frontline professionals, such as private security, police, prison or
civil enforcement officers and paramedics.
Facing someone carrying any type of edged weapon can be
classed as facing a ‘real problem’, but many of us will know someone who has
been stabbed but who also has survived such assault. Unless you face someone
who really know what he is doing, there is a realistic chance of surviving such
type of assault.
However, being attacked by random person, someone ‘unskilled’ waving a hypodermic needle at you and sticking it at anywhere into your body if of equal or even greater danger. This can indeed mean you are coming in contact with blood-borne pathogens such as HIV and Hepatitis C and this can potentially and subsequent result in you looking at the end of your life expectancy. In my personal and professional opinion this issue presents a realistic risk in today’s society.
There are many recorded incidents of HIV positive prisoners
and criminals using a hypodermic needle as weapon, but the one which jumps into
my mind right away is the one which occurred on when UK Police
Officer Gemma Newman was stabbed with a hypodermic needle in her arm, by Police
shoplifter Grzegorz Pajak who was claiming that he was indeed ‘HIV
Positive’. She has since considered leaving front line policing due to
‘deep psychological distress’ a court heard. I am unsure about the outcome of
this case.
Other reported incidents include:
- “Boston Man Charged With Armed Robbery And Assault With A Hypodermic Needle Facing Life Sentence”
- “Birmingham Hypodermic Syringe Attacker ‘has Stabbed 11 Women”
- “Security guard stabbed with syringe in test wait”
- “Dublin muggers bring terror to the streets with blood-filled syringes”
- “Security guard pricked in neck with needle, Houston police say”
- “Cheltenham supermarket security guard stabbed with needle during attempted theft”
I guess that the arresting officers would be quite keen to
understand their standard issued body armour is protecting them from such
weapon.
Despite the opinion of many other experts, there are needle
resistance standards out there, which might not be designed to test body
armour against, but nevertheless can give professionals a very clear
indication what level of needle protection a piece of personal protective
equipment (PPE) offers.
ASTM (The American Society for Testing and Materials)
has recently developed a new international standard, the ASTM
F2878. This is a ‘Test Method for Protective Clothing Material Resistance
to Hypodermic Needle Puncture’.
This test-method evaluates puncture resistance of protective
clothing materials which may include plastics or elastomeric films, coated
fabrics, flexible materials, laminates, leathers or textile materials.
Please note that of course no single standard can replicate
the real life conditions in which a needle puncture takes place but testing to
such standard must be seen as a good thing and will certainly eliminate some
concerns a potential body armour wearer might have.
The EN 388:2016 (Protective gloves against mechanical risks)
is another available test. This is a test developed to verify the needle
puncture resistance of gloves and has not been designed to test body armour,
but again… it will indicate that a specific product or material has been tested
against a recognised standard and that it has passed such test.
However, in the world of body armour, it is widely accepted
and respected that official SPIKE tests and subsequent successful ‘spike
resistance certifications’ are physical evidence that a body armour can
withstand any type of hypodermic needle. In fact, such body armour can
withstand many other tools/toys/weapons much more aggressive and stronger than
a needle.
If I personally would have to wear any type of body armour then I would of course prefer to know that an independent government authorised agency had a look at it and states that it is offering such level of spike protection.
Every single stab
resistant body armour manufactured by PPSS Group is offering certified
protection from shanks, spikes,hypodermic needles and similar threats. Test
reports and certifications are of course available upon request.
If you wish to discuss any concerns, you or your colleagues
might have please email my team: info@ppss-group.com.
The Author:
My name is Robert Kaiser, I am the CEO and Founder of UK headquartered PPSS Group and I am a well-respected expert on body armour. My written word has been featured in several industry leading, international homeland and private security publications. A great video demonstration of me being subjected to knives, machetes, axes, shanks, other types of edged weapons, as well as blunt objects can be found and viewed on YouTube.
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