THE STORAGE OF TETANUS VACCINE IN ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS - A POSTAL SURVEY

The aim of this study was to assess the quality of storage of tetanus vaccine in accident and emergency (A&E) departments and also of the aw areness of Department of Health guidelines. A postal questionnaire was sent to 50 randomly selected major A&E departments in the British Isl es, enquiring about awareness of Department of Health guidelines (Depa rtment of Health, 1990). Forty (80%) A&E departments responded. Only 1 4 were aware of the Department of Health guidelines and in only 18 was there a member of staff taking responsibility for vaccine storage. Th e study found that safe storage of vaccine, and therefore guarantee of efficacy, is not occurring in the majority of A&E departments. Unnoti ced failure of refrigerators could be exposing patients to the risk of tetanus infection.