Assessment of preventive measures for accidental blood exposure in operating theaters: a survey of 20 hospitals in Northern France.

Background: Accidental exposures to blood of body fluids (ABE) expose health care workers (HCW) to the risk of occupational infection.

Objectives: Our aim was to assess the prevention equipment available in the operating theater (OT) with reference to guidelines or recommendations and its use by the staff in that OT on that day and past history of ABE.

Methods: Correspondents of the Centre de Coordination de la Lutte contre les Infections Nosocomiales (CCLIN) Paris-Nord ABE Surveillance Taskforce carried out an observational multicenter survey in 20 volunteer French hospitals.