A girl was pricked with a discarded needle at an Australian primary school, prompting a letter to parents saying staff would remain “vigilant” to keep their premises safe.
The eight-year-old girl was pricked while picking up the needle at Roebuck Primary School in Western Australia on Tuesday, The Nightly reported.
The school’s principal, Nikki Sandilands, wrote to parents later that day to warn them that a needle and syringe had been found on the school premises.
“We have contacted the parents of these students and classroom teachers will be speaking to our students tomorrow about not touching anything they find on the grounds and instead reporting it to a teacher on duty,” she wrote.
‘We will continue to be vigilant to keep the ground safe and secure.
‘Please feel free to contact me at school if your child needs additional support.’
The Department of Education would not confirm the alleged injury to NewsWire for privacy reasons.
The school is located in the Broome County region, which encompasses the city of Broome and stretches along the Western Australian coastline from the Dampier Peninsula to Eighty Mile Beach in the Kimberley region.
The discarded hypodermic needle was left on the school grounds, where the girl found it (file image)
Roebuck Primary School principal Nikki Sandilands’ letter to parents and carers regarding the discovery of a needle on school grounds
WA Health is distributing needles and syringes through providers to reduce the prevalence of blood-borne viruses in people who inject drugs.
“The goal of this important public health program is to help reduce the incidence of sharing and reusing injection equipment, which aims to decrease the spread of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C among people who inject drugs and potentially in the broader community,” a health spokeswoman told NewsWire.
‘It is a requirement that all needles and syringes distributed in WA have a container for safe disposal.
Prepackaged needle and syringe packages include a disposal container and are labeled with safe disposal information.
‘All needle and syringe program providers are taught to educate their customers about safe disposal.’
Roebuck Primary School is located in Broome, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Broome Shire chairman Councillor Chris Mitchell said needlestick injuries were a “problem” across Western Australia.
“It’s a problem across Kimberley and across the state because people are not disposing of needles properly and in some cases are suffering needle-stick injuries,” he said.
He said four council workers had suffered injuries from sticks in the past two years.
“County workers pick them up constantly when they make their rounds,” he said.
‘Then you go through all the stress of finding out if you have other problems.’
The council is now lobbying the health department to introduce single-use retractable needles.
“So far we have been told that it is more expensive, but that should not be part of the debate,” he said.