I’m refreshing our second-year lab on hazardous drug handling and want a practical way to demonstrate contamination spread without real chemo — thinking fluorescein + blacklight with a demo CSTD and spill kit. Has anyone tried this or found a better low-cost tool for reinforcing PPE donning/doffing and closed-system technique to protect our immunocompromised patients and staff, especially for students rotating on heme/onc next month?
We’ve done Glo Germ gel inside the CSTD septum and a small ‘fake spill’ to show splash/aerosol under UV; it’s cheap and dramatic (think glitter with an agenda), but lay down clear plastic first because the glow lingers on floors. I also have them narrate ‘clean to dirty’ while doffing and swab mask interiors/wrists for residue; NIOSH’s HD page is a good quick primer to frame the why: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/hazdrug/.
Quick example: for our second-year lab, I put a pinhead drop of diluted fluorescein on the outer glove cuff before a CSTD transfer, then UV the wrists during doffing; if they strip the glove wrong, the glow on the skin makes “closed-system technique” and glove changes click fast. It can stain, so lay a Chux and wipe with alcohol right away, and dim the lights so a cheap blacklight does the job.
Building on @rlee67’s splash point, add an external-vial contamination demo: swipe the crimp/stopper with a Q‑tip of diluted fluorescein, let them “sterile wipe” and connect the CSTD, then UV the plungers and drawer handles — thumbprints pop fast. Lay clear packing tape on the bench first because fluorescein lingers, and skip powders if ventilation’s poor — quick ref: NIOSH haz drug page to crib wipe technique visuals: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/hazdrug/.