1. Ascertain details on blood cultures

• How man bottles/sets were positive? Site of stick? Aerobic/anaerobic bottle? Gram Stain?

• Multiple positive sets is concerning

• Longer time to positivity is ofter suggestive of contaminant, although tough to utilize unless extreme

2. Patient and clinical status

• Why were cultures obtained? Do they have signs or symptoms that correlate with infection?

• Risk factors, such as hardware or prosthetic material? Immunocompromised host?

3. Organism