In short
The handbook has looked in detail at the risks and how you can protect yourself. But, in short, the main messages are:

1. You can protect yourself from infection by always using your own:

• New, sterile needles and syringes
• Mixing water, cups or containers
• Spoons
• Filters
• Swabs/sterets/alcohol wipes
• Tourniquets

and never sharing, lending or borrowing them.

2. ‘Sharing’ doesn’t just mean using a syringe that someone else has used. It also means using:

• A filter
• Mixing water
• Water cup/container
• Spoon

that someone else has used, or passing them on to someone else.

3. Always use:

• Needles, syringes and filters once only
• The smallest needle you can
• A new needle if you can’t find a vein straight away.

4. Always be 'blood aware' and mindful of the risks of:

• Catching infection from others
• Overdose
• Passing on infection to others.

5. Go to see a doctor if you get any swelling at or near an injection site that lasts for more than a few days or:

• Is painful or tender
• Is hot and/or red

or if you get:

• Any serious bleeding
• An area of skin becoming sore, weeping or turning black
• An area of skin becoming pale or discolored.

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