1. If possible, save the syringe/needle. While it’s not routine to run tests on the needle (because there’s usually not enough moist blood in/on it for effective testing), it can be helpful for your doctor to examine the syringe and see what type it is and how fresh it seems to be. The longer the needle has been lying there, the better off you are (although you’ll probably still need a tetanus shot).
Experts believe that HIV doesn’t live for more than a few hours outside the human body. Hepatitis can live longer and is much more infectious. The less blood is in/on the syringe, the better. The kind of disposable syringe usually used by addicts is less dangerous in terms of accidental disease transmission than a syringe that a health-care worker would use to draw blood, because the needle is smaller and less blood (or none) is actually drawn back into the syringe. To carry and store the syringe safely, it’s recommended that you put it in a screw-top glass container – tip downward, of course.

2. If you can make the needle-stick wound bleed, do so. That helps to flush it out. Hold the wounded spot below your heart so blood will flow to it. Then wash it well (with antibacterial soap if available) and put a dressing on it.

3. See a doctor promptly. The New York City Health Department suggests visiting the Riverside Clinic, on 100th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam (call first: 212-865-7757). It provides HIV and Hepatitis screening/treatment for free, plus it’s one of the few locations where you can have truly anonymous testing done. [However, visiting your regular physician and/or an infectious diseases specialist is helpful.]
The doctors’ potential concerns were, in descending order of seriousness: HIV, Hepatitis, tetanus, and simple infection.

- HIV is apparently extremely unlikely in this context; you may be comforted to know that the CDC has no documented cases of HIV transmission resulting from an accident involving a discarded needle outside of health-care settings. Nevertheless… your doctor may give you an HIV test immediately, even though an infection from the needle accident won’t yet show up. (They do this in order to establish that you don’t already have HIV so their reporting is accurate.) You can then be tested again in six weeks, by which time a new infection would show up. If your doctor feels there is any realistic risk that you may have been exposed to HIV, he or she can prescribe a course of powerful (i.e., unpleasant) anti-viral drugs that must begin immediately.

- Hepatitis A and B can both be prevented from developing if you start the immunization process within a couple of days of the incident. Several vaccinations over a period of six to nine months are needed to provide full immunity. There’s no vaccine for Hepatitis C but there are treatments, so your doctor will probably test you for that too.

- Tetanus booster shots are necessary if it’s been years since your last one. No big deal!

- And in terms of simple infection, keep an eye on the wound and make sure it’s not getting red or swollen. If it does, ask for antibiotics.

4. Take precautions. The CDC recommends that, for the sake of others’ safety, you should act as if you have a serious infectious disease until you know for sure that you don’t. In other words, don’t share body fluids or donate blood or organs until you know you’re in the clear (the CDC says six months). Also check in with your doctor if you notice a fever up to six months after your needle-stick.

5. Finally… Ask lots of questions and make sure your fears are taken seriously by your doctor(s), even if you know the odds are strongly in your favor.

Guests at previous meetings have included:

* Deputy Majority Leader of the NY City Council, Bill Perkins
* The Manhattan managers of the CACC
* Community Board 9 Parks Chair, Carolyn Kent
* Parks District 10 Manager, Tricia Daniel
* Community Affairs and K9 Unit Officers of the NYPD
* And, regularly, our representative from Partnerships for Parks, Nicole Smith

The meetings are designed as open community discussions of anything that affects our daily lives, from conditions in Morningside Park to resolving conflicts within our run community.

In 2003, positive reinforcement animal trainer Dennis P. Owens began an M-BARC series of classes and appointments for neighborhood dog owners, sponsored by this grant from Councilman Perkins and the NYC Department of Parks. This series and its off-shoots ran for 2 years, serving hundreds of area residents who participated in or observed the programs.

More recently, Morningside BARC has formed a partnership with Rondout Valley Shelter’s Training Wheels program, a traveling animal resource center designed for urban youth. Training Wheels brings trainers, games, obstacles and, best of all, its Lugnuts Competition to the center of the park, offering incentives to train dogs for purposes other than fighting, as it offers prizes to the strongest dogs. Prize amounts double for neutered/spayed dogs who win.

Please check the Upcoming Events section of the home page for the latest updates on when these, or other special events, will be coming next. Morningside BARC has also brought programs by the ASPCA, the CACC and Andrea Arden’s mobile agility course to the park for special events and services.

Morningside BARC still holds regular work days in the spring through fall to haul wood chips, repair fencing, install new features, clean up trash, and even sometimes have fun doing it.

Dog runs keep the surrounding areas of the park cleaner. Obviously when dogs are enclosed in a specific area, mess decreases. By developing a community of responsible dog-owning volunteers who regularly maintain the area of the dog run, the benefits multiply around the entire park.

Runs create an enclosed safe area for dogs and their owners. In addition to providing recreation for both humans and dogs, dog runs keep dogs safe from cars, and owners safe from tickets. Furthermore, a dog run keeps off-leash dogs away from people who fear dogs, causing less daily tension in a neighborhoods where a large proportion of the residents fear dogs.

The site of the Morningside Dog Run was overrun and underutilized. It was a site of criminal activity in the past; it is now occupied early in the morning and late at night by dog owners, reclaiming a central part of the park that had in the past been given over to drug use and crime.

Most importantly, DOGS MUST BE ADEQUATELY SOCIALIZED IN ORDER TO BE LESS AGGRESSIVE. It is a matter of public safety that dog populations NEED places to interact and exercise. This dog run was the first successful off-leash area in Harlem. One other, in Marcus Garvey Park, has recently opened.

Morningside BARC was founded in June. 2001 by a coalition of residents from Central Harlem and Morningside Heights who wanted a place to let their dogs play on a daily basis. Before M-BARC’s efforts began, there were no legal dog runs in Harlem, nor were there sanctioned off-leash courtesy hours. Nowhere to meet with the dogs, nowhere to meet with each other. Now, thanks to the efforts documented on this website, we are a thriving community.

Morningside BARC is a partner group of Friends of Morningside Park, as well as a community service organization maintaining ties with local city agencies.

The clinic is located at:
1719 West Lemon St., Tampa
813-250-3900

Thousands of pets go missing each year. Emergency situations, like a car accident or hurricane can separate you from your four-legged friend, in a matter of seconds. A microchip provides a permanent form of identification that cannot be altered.

A microchip is a transponder with a unique number embedded. It’s about the size of a grain of rice. The microchip is inserted using a needle between the shoulder blades of a cat or dog, in a procedure similar to a vaccination. It takes just seconds. Once implanted, the microchip remains under the skin for the lifetime of the pet. The pet’s information is then entered into a national database. Many rescue groups, shelters and veterinarians across the country have scanners to access that information, in the event a pet is turned into their facility.

Give the gift of a healthier pet this holiday season and help stop animal
overpopulation! What better gift than one that will help our favorite furry
friends live longer lives and with the convenience of an ACT gift card?
Gift cards are available for $20, $40 and $95.

Snip ‘N Chip offers free microchipping with any spay/neuter surgery. ACT
also provides microchipping for $20 if your pet has already been fixed.

Snip N Chip is part of ACT’s way of making your life easier. Now, ACT’s
Neuter
Scooter can pick up your pet from specified locations and your pet can be
spayed/neutered and mircrochipped at the same time! Don’t forget the low
cost!

Has having a microchip helped anyone to find their pet again? We’d love to
hear your stories!!