The Resident Doctors have a lot of work to do, both clinical and management. They wear aprons which have reasonably sized pockets. These pockets are always full of stuff that they would need any time. There are sometimes red stains on the aprons, not necessarily on the pockets. When these stains are after they have worked in the labor ward, they can be presumed to be caused by contact with patients' blood. We have standard procedure laid down for action after a contact with blood. But the poor guys and girls are so overworked that they just ignore these stains and the SOP.
"Is that blood on your apron pocket or is it red ink from a pen in your pocket?" I asked one Resident Doctor when I saw a good sized red stain on her apron.
"It is blood" she said. Probably she did not have to consider the ink option because she did not carry a pen with red ink in it. We encourage they fill the discharge summaries of patients using red ink for headings and important parts, and blue ink for the remaining information. But I did not press the point.
"Is that blood HIV positive or negative?" I asked.
She looked at the stain carefully, gave a half smile and said, "It is probably HIV negative."
"At least put some hand wash solution on it until you change your apron" I said. I did not press that point further too, hoping she would have got the message. I would have liked to call her to see me after half an hour to check if she had changed her apron, but I did not do it because it would add to her busy schedule and take away whatever little free time she would have found.
