It is now official; September is Sepsis Awareness Month in New Hampshire! Thanks to the efforts of our very own Liz Colacino RN, who contacted Governor Sununu’s Office to explain the importance of bringing awareness to this subject, it has now been made official through proclamation. Sepsis has been a topic of conversation in healthcare for some time, but many individuals outside of the space don’t know what sepsis is or how serious the condition can get. In order to catch early symptoms, education and awareness are instrumental in making a difference.

When an infection gets out of control, the body releases chemicals to fight it. But sometimes those chemicals can trigger an inflammatory response that can damage multiple organs, especially in the very old, the very young, and the immunocompromised. When this happens it's called sepsis. Sepsis is a serious condition in which the body responds improperly to an infection. The infection-fighting processes turn on the body, causing the organs to work poorly and, in some cases, may progress to septic shock. When the damage is severe, it can lead to death.

Early treatment of sepsis improves chances for survival. Sepsis affects 1.7 million people in the US per year, claiming the lives of approximately 350,000 of them.

At Cottage Hospital, our sepsis committee is dedicated to ensuring that we are implementing best practices for patients presenting sepsis.  Early identification and treatment is essential in sepsis.  We use evidence-based toolkits to help us manage patients who present with suspected systemic infection; this includes a 1-hour bundle of early identification, including drawing labs and administering antibiotics.  We are also required to review each sepsis case to ensure that we met the elements of the bundle, and if we did not, then we implement process improvements.

Additional resources:

Sepsis- Symptoms & Causes- Mayo Clinic

Sepsis- Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, & Prevention - Cleveland Clinic

What is Sepsis?