This article has been 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 (p = 0.03).
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.