Sheath for butterfly needles

DETAILED DESCRIPTION An ever present danger to medical personnel using hypodermic needles which have been inserted in patients is the possibility that after a needle has been contaminated by contact with a patient's tissue and fluids, the needle will inject harmful material into another person as a result of an inadvertent breaking of that second person's skin by the contaminated point of the needle.
The spreading of fatal hepatitis to medical personnel by inadvertent pricking of their skin with contaminated needles is a well known hazard.
Another fatal disease which can be spread by pricking with contaminated needles is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
The present invention avoids the spreading of diseases through inadvertent skin pricking with contaminated needles by providing a convenient sheath which covers the entire length of the needle.
Especially covered and protected from contact with any person who handles needles enclosed in sheaths of the present invention is the entire bevelled edge of the quillpen acuminated tip portion of the needle.
The sheath can be fabricated from a single piece of injection molded plastic.
As fabricated, the sheath of the present invention is a low cost part which, along with the encased contaminated needle, can be safely put in trash collectors for disposal.
As constructed, the sheath is not associated with a needle until a needle is to be removed from a patient.
When a needle is to be removed from a patient, the sheath is placed on the skin of the patient and the plastic tube connected to the needle is laid on top of the sheath and the sheath is moved toward the inserted needle along the length of the plastic tube.
The sheath is moved adjacent the inserted needle with the side strips of the butterfly-shaped needle holder positioned in the sheath.
Then the plastic tube is grasped and pulled against the sheath so as to extract the needle from the patient and lodge the side strips into the sheath with retaining spring clips positioned against the side strips to prevent the needle from falling out of the sheath and exposing the pointed tip of the needle