TY - JOUR T1 - Simple measures to reduce the rate of contamination of blood cultures in Accident and Emergency JF - Emergency Medicine Journal JO - Emerg Med J SP - 810 LP - 811 DO - 10.1136/emj.2005.003079 VL - 22 IS - 11 AU - M Madeo AU - T Jackson AU - C Williams Y1 - 2005/11/01 UR - http://emj.bmj.com/content/22/11/810.abstract N2 - Objectives: To reduce the contamination rate of blood cultures taken in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department. Methods: The standard blood culture sampling kit was supplemented with an instruction sheet on the optimal method for drawing blood cultures and a large 62% ethyl alcohol impregnated wipe. Results: There was a statistically significant reduction in the number of contaminants (pā€Š=ā€Š0.03). Conclusions: Simple measures to encourage skin disinfection and appropriate sampling technique will reduce the incidence of contamination of blood cultures in the A&E department. ER -