This has pissed me off enough, I'm seriously considering contacting someone in the state government (Not sure who. Representative maybe?) and making my displeasure known. I shouldn't have to lie to do a good thing. Plus, it's hurting the Red Cross because they have to turn away an otherwise ideal donor. I know in the old days there were issues with blood diseases, but not anymore. Things have improved a lot even in just the past 10 years. I even rattled off a few things that I know one country requires and the nurse said I'd just rattled off all Florida's requirements. *facepalm* The rules are really damned simple and I don't know why Georgia hasn't bothered to do it. Half of it is common sense.
*Needles should be sterile and single use. All used needles should be disposed of in a sharps container.
*The artist/piercer should be wearing gloves at all times during the procedure and, ideally, any time they're in contact with the client's skin.
*Any non disposable tools should be sterilized in an on site autoclave.
*Ink should be put into single use ink caps and disposed of after the tattoo is complete. It should never be returned to a universal container.
And if you wanted to get a little more strict, you could add that artist/piercer be vaccinated against Hep B. It's fairly common anyway and Hep B happens to be the biggest concern when collecting blood. It was on my list of required shots before I went to college.
I know it's not a big pork project or whatever they call it in politics, but it's definitely something that should be addressed. When something like 40% of people have tattoos, making even a small percentage of that wait just seems unfair and unhelpful. Everybody wins in this situation. Most counties do this stuff anyway, so why would it be such a big leap for the state to put it all in writing? I'm sure they've already got people from the health department inspecting and whatnot.
So I guess that's my rant for the day. Off to start composing my strongly worded letter to whoever represents me.
