Today is World Sepsis Day.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to an infection damages its own tissues and organs. It can lead to shock, failure of multiple organs, and death – especially if not recognised early and treated promptly.

Sepsis is a global health crisis. It affects between 47 and 50 million people worldwide every year, and at least 11 million die – with one death every 2.8 seconds. Many surviving patients suffer from the consequences of sepsis for the rest of their lives.

In 2013, Northern Health introduced the Step on Sepsis program.

Cassie Gilbert, Step on Sepsis Project Coordinator, said the program was developed to aid in early recognition and appropriate management of sepsis at Northern Health. The goal of the program is to decrease time to antibiotics and improve patient outcomes.

“It is time critical to promptly recognise the warning signs of sepsis and respond appropriately to improve patient outcomes. As clinicians, we are essential in the early recognition of sepsis and advocating for our patients to ensure the early treatment of sepsis,” Cassie said.

Associate Professor Craig Aboltins, Northern Health’s Head of Infectious Diseases and Medical Lead for the project said, “Step on Sepsis was introduced as a quality improvement project at Northern Health, working to better the care for our patients presenting with, or developing, sepsis throughout the organisation. Strong research evidence suggests patients with sepsis have a significantly reduced mortality risk if they receive anti-microbial treatment within one hour of sepsis recognition.”

“The Step on Sepsis project takes on a multidisciplinary team approach to improve the management of septic patients, specifically in the prompt administration of antibiotics, and has successfully improved recognition of sepsis and the time to antibiotics for our patients,” Craig added.

The program has been successful in helping clinicians improve the recognition and treatment of patients with sepsis. This program focuses on examining time to treat with antibiotics, as well as improving nursing and medical staff education in identifying and managing patients with serious infections.

If you would like to know more about sepsis and World Sepsis Day head to:

https://www.worldsepsisday.org/

https://www.australiansepsisnetwork.net.au/

Featured image: Cassie Gilbert, Step on Sepsis Project Coordinator