Designated Infection Control Officer Certification Exam Study Guide

This study guide has been designed to assist Designated Infection Control Officers (DICOs) in preparing for the DICO certification (DICO-C) exam. The guide focuses on the main topics that a DICO needs to know to be prepared to serve their department as a qualified DICO. The areas covered in the study guide include sufficient information to enable DICO certification exam candidates to pass the DICO-C exam administered by the International Board of Specialty Certification (IBSC).

Exam candidates are encouraged to review the references included in the guide. Some of the references include original and updated versions to show that much information has been available for many years and to highlight changes that have been made.

This document has not been designed to provide everything a DICO needs to create and operate an effective and legally compliant infection control program. However, it provides the key information DICOs need to understand when taking the certification exam and in establishing a compliant infection control/exposure control program.

The audience for this document includes DICOs who work in the emergency response setting, which includes Fire departments, Fire/EMS departments and agencies, Law Enforcement departments and agencies, and Private Ambulance services. These blanket terms used in this document that apply to each of these workplaces are “pre-hospital employers,” or “emergency response employers.” The employees who work in those workplaces are referred to as “emergency response employees (EREs).” In addition, some topics apply only to health care providers and not to law enforcement. The term used to refer to the emergency responders in those topics is “health care worker”.