Does Your Stab Vest Offer Needle Protection?

Hypodermic needles pose a serious and realistic threat to domestic frontline professionals, such as private security, police, prison or civil enforcement officers and paramedics.

Facing someone carrying any type of edged weapon can be classed as facing a ‘real problem’. However, unless you face someone who really know what he is doing, there is a realistic chance of surviving such type of assault.

On the other hand, being attacked by a random ‘unskilled’ person waving a hypodermic needle at you and sticking it at anywhere into your body if of equal or even greater danger. This can indeed mean you are coming in contact with blood-borne pathogens such as HIV and Hepatitis C and this can potentially and subsequent result in you looking at the end of your life expectancy. In my personal and professional opinion this issue presents a realistic risk in today’s society.

There are many recorded incidents of HIV positive prisoners and criminals using a hypodermic needle as weapon, but the one which jumps into my mind right away is the one which occurred on when UK Police Officer Gemma Newman was stabbed with a hypodermic needle in her arm, by Police shoplifter Grzegorz Pajak who was claiming that he was indeed ‘HIV Positive’. She has since considered leaving front line policing due to ‘deep psychological distress’ a court heard. I am unsure about the outcome of this case.

Other reported incidents include:

• “Boston Man Charged With Armed Robbery And Assault With A Hypodermic Needle Facing Life Sentence”
• “Birmingham Hypodermic Syringe Attacker ‘has Stabbed 11 Women”
• “Security guard stabbed with syringe in test wait”
• “Dublin muggers bring terror to the streets with blood-filled syringes”
• “Security guard pricked in neck with needle, Houston police say”
• “Cheltenham supermarket security guard stabbed with needle during attempted theft”

Stab Vests | Needle Protection Standards & Tests

Despite the opinion of many other experts, there are needle resistance standards out there, which might not be designed to test stab vests against, but nevertheless can give professionals a very clear indication what level of needle protection a piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) offers.

ASTM (The American Society for Testing and Materials) has recently developed a new international standard, the ASTM F2878. This is a ‘Test Method for Protective Clothing Material Resistance to Hypodermic Needle Puncture’.

This test-method evaluates puncture resistance of protective clothing materials which may include plastics or elastomeric films, coated fabrics, flexible materials, laminates, leathers or textile materials.

Please note that of course no single standard can replicate the real life conditions in which a needle puncture takes place but testing to such standard must be seen as a good thing and will certainly eliminate some concerns a potential body armour wearer might have.

The EN 388:2016 (Protective gloves against mechanical risks) is another available test. This is a test developed to verify the needle puncture resistance of gloves and has not been designed to test body armour, but again… it will indicate that a specific product or material has been tested against a recognised standard and that it has passed such test.

However, in the world of body armour and stab vests, it is widely accepted and respected that official SPIKE tests and subsequent successful ‘spike resistance certifications’ are physical evidence that a body armour can withstand any type of hypodermic needle. In fact, such body armour can withstand many other tools/toys/weapons much more aggressive and stronger than a needle. Please read our CEO’s article titled: “The Importance of Spike Protection“.

If I personally would have to wear any type of body armour then I would of course prefer to know that an independent agency had a look at it, confirming it is indeed offering such level of protection.

All stab vests manufactured by PPSS Group are certified to CAST KR/SP1, offering certified protection from shanks, spikes,hypodermic needles and similar threats. Test reports and certifications are of course available upon request. Please view our comprehensive product page.

Please contact us if you wish to speak with us. Technical Director Colin Mackinnon (27 years with UK police, Counter Terrorism, Surveillance, Covert Ops and Firearms) would be more than happy to visit you at your facility.