Spread awareness and save lives this Sepsis Awareness Month

September 5, 2019

Did you know that sepsis takes more lives than opioid overdoses, breast cancer and prostate cancer combined? September is Sepsis Awareness Month. We have joined the Sepsis Alliance’s national campaign to increase awareness of the symptoms of sepsis and best practices for prevention and treatment.

Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection, which can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death. When it comes to sepsis, every second counts. For every hour that treatment is delayed, the risk of death increases by as much as 8 percent. As many as 80 percent of sepsis deaths could be prevented with rapid diagnosis and treatment. That’s why the focus of the sepsis awareness campaign is TIME:

  • T – TEMPERATURE that’s abnormal
  • I – Signs of an INFECTION
  • M – MENTAL DECLINE
  • E – Feeling EXTREMELY ILL

This Sepsis Awareness Month, WSHA is asking our members to register a “sepsis coordinator” – or any similar position – with the Sepsis Coordinator Network. The Sepsis Coordinator Network is a free avenue for sharing resources, guidance and experience between health care professionals fighting sepsis across the nation.

The WSHA Safety & Quality team is dedicated to supporting all Washington hospitals in prevention, early identification and treatment of sepsis. In addition to encouraging members to join the Sepsis Coordinator Network, the team provides a variety of resources, including individual consultation for developing and implementing sepsis protocols for early identification and treatment of sepsis, as well as education and training events throughout the year – bringing in local and national experts to share their research and knowledge about best practices. The WSHA Safety & Quality team also wants to help you track outcomes of sepsis patients treated by your facility. You can receive an individual report that will display sepsis mortality by month benchmarked to similar facilities in Washington State.

Finally, it is my pleasure to announce that we have hired a new Safety & Quality Director, with a sepsis and readmission management focus – Rosemary Mitchell Grant, BSN, RN, CPHQ. Rosemary is a resource to all Washington hospitals looking to become involved with sepsis performance improvement work. If you would like to get in touch with her, please contact RosemaryG@wsha.org.

This Sepsis Awareness Month, we hope you will join us in continuing to combat sepsis in Washington hospitals.

I look forward to working with you in collaboration and engagement!

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