[Traumatic emergencies and AIDS]

At the reception of traumatic casualties, the medical staff is exposed to a contact with blood and thus to the risk of H.I.V. contamination. The hollow needle used for taking blood simple or doing intravascular injections is the most dangerous instrument, especially in the period next to medical care. The prevention of these accidents, which must be a permanent, systematic concern, does not take any advantage from the knowledge of the serological status of the patients but essentially rests on the care workers continuous education and the use of safety equipment.