APP Conference soon!
CONFERENCE IS ALMOST UPON US! THE CONFERENCE ADVANCED (ONLINE) REGISTRATION WILL SHUT DOWN AT MIDNIGHT ON MAY 17TH, PST ANY CHANGES TO YOUR REGISTRATION SHOULD …
The Association of Professional Piercers is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the dissemination of vital health and safety information about body piercing to piercers, health care professionals, legislators, and the general public. Socially and legislatively, body piercing is situated within the greater body modification community. As a result, we recognize that our role extends beyond the discipline of body piercing. Our position on body art practices such as tattooing, cosmetic tattooing, branding, scarification, suspension, and other forms of body modification is as follows:
Semmelweis
Perhaps if he was more diplomatic and better demonstrated his hypothesis he would have had a better response from his colleagues
Brasil 2nd Congress
Brian Skellie at the 2ND Educational Congress for Professional Body Piercers in Brasil
Returning explants to patients
In developing a policy on the return of explants to patients [or previously worn body jewelry to clients] there are many concerns and issues that need to be considered and addressed.
Sharpies for labeling
“Most Sharpies have not been validated for industrial usage or for use in the sterilization conditions. There are a couple of Sharpie markers that do conform to the ASTM standard D4236 which means the product has been evaluated by a toxicologist for acute and chronic toxicity and the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) identifies ingredients as presenting any chronic health hazard, along with safe use instructions. The pens that bear the AP seal with the notation “conforms to ASTM D4236″ (see right) are the markers that may be used for labeling your packages.”
SciCan STATIM G4 Installation instructions
How to set up your new Statim G4 autoclave by SciCan
If it is not clean it can not be sterilized
Equipment must be cleaned before sterilization. Heat fixes blood fibrin to instrument surfaces, and should not be used prior to cleaning. Reprocessing should be done according to evidence based scientific recommendations.
Wiping the Surface Clean
“To wipe the slate clean is to forget all past problems or mistakes and start something again. That is what wiping a surface is all about – to get rid of the past and start anew.” S.M.Kovach
Open Workshop SE
Brian Skellie shared piercing techniques at the Open Workshop in Stockholm SE November 9-11, 2012
JHU Infection Prevention Guidelines for Healthcare Facilities with Limited Resources
Links: Some educational infection prevention materials for body artists
Minimizing tools: a discussion
Minimizing waste and maximizing safety are two important goals in body art.
APP for Nonconformists
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world.
— “Self Reliance,” Ralph Waldo Emerson
You may find this conversation interesting or useful as a colleague if you are on the fence about joining the Association of Professional Piercers. (more…)
Learn about sea salt
Have you ever visited a salt evaporation pond? It was enough to dissuade me from any desire to put unrefined sea salt in an open wound.
LESS THAN 30 DAYS UNTIL THE APP CONFERENCE!
30 days left to prepare for the 17th annual APP Conference!
Symbols.com
A fascinating guide to graphic symbols in western culture
Marking for procedures
Some ideas about aseptic skin marking for procedures
Brian Skellie offers freehand piercing workshop in Sweden at Tribe 20th anniversary event
Brian Skellie teaches aseptic freehand piercing skills in Sweden at Tribe 20th anniversary event
Brian Skellie teaches immediate use sterilization skills in Italy at APTPI Congress
Brian Skellie teaches sterilization skills for the professional body piercer and tattooist in Milan at the 7th APTPI congress
New interview in Portuguese
A short interview of Brian Skellie by colleagues at Soul Tattoo
useful info on antimicrobials
http://www.fightgermsnow.com/ A useful collection of scientific studies on antimicrobial use in clinical and home settings.
Useful links for further reading on the subjects of instrument processing and sterilization
For brevity, I suggest that you use all sterile disposable single use items, however if you are to reprocess used instruments: Classes …
World Standards Day at BMXnet
I am teaching Biomaterials standards for body art at the BMXnet conference in Essen, Germany this month for World Standards Day, the celebration of …
Working with a STATIM autoclave
Brian Skellie introduced STATIM autoclaves to our industry in the 1990′s, and hundreds of professionals have come to work with them over the years. Statim autoclaves have fully validated fast sterilization cycles, which makes them ideal for sterilizing jewelry and all the items as needed for each piercing as well as the routine wrapped items every studio needs. In this class we will explore how they should be handled in our daily routine.
Anodizing Titanium and Niobium Body Jewelry
The opportunity to explain and demonstrate anodizing titanium body jewlery to my colleagues in person is always a pleasure. For those of you who are interested, here are some of the basics. There are many other techniques, tips and tricks that I’ll be glad to help with if you have questions.
