September is Sepsis Awareness Month, focusing on raising awareness of the leading cause of death in hospitals across the country. Resources from the Sepsis Alliance focus on simple things you can do to educate members of your community and help save lives. We are also excited to announce that Gov. Inslee once again proclaimed September as Sepsis Awareness Month. We hope you will join us in spreading awareness using the social media toolkit (linked above) or through your community newsletter.
Sepsis is your body’s life-threatening reaction to severe infection, and it affects an estimated 49 million people worldwide each year. Sepsis can impact anyone, though it is most common among very young children, older adults and those with a weakened immune system. An estimated 37% of American adults have never even heard of the condition.
The Sepsis Alliance developed an easy acronym to remember the symptoms of sepsis: TIME, which stands for Temperature, Infection, Mental decline and Extreme illness. Body temperature can be higher or lower than normal; patients may have symptoms of an infection; patients often exhibit symptoms of confusion or sleepiness or can be difficult to rouse; and patients can be in severe pain and discomfort or be short of breath. For every hour treatment is delayed increases the rate of death by 4-9%, and as many as 80% of sepsis deaths can be prevented with rapid diagnosis and treatment.
Learn more about WSHA’s work on sepsis on our website.
Sincerely,
Rosemary Grant
WSHA Director, Clinical Excellence
rosemaryg@wsha.org
