Today is World Sepsis Day. September is also Sepsis Awareness Month and staff at the Northern Nevada Sierra Medical Center are recognizing the day by participating in a mile walk around the campus in support of continued staff education of the life-threatening condition.
Sepsis is the body’s overreaction to an infection. It can cause tissue damage, organ disfunction, and can even lead to death.
Katherine Reese, performance improvement quality coordinator nurse, says, “It’s a medical emergency, it requires early recognition, and quick treatment with life saving measures such as IB fluids, IB antibiotics to stop the progression to severe sepsis, septic shock, or even death.”
Reese says when looking for sepsis they use the ‘T.I.M.E.’ tool.
‘T’ for temperature: check for fever or lower body temperature.
‘I’ for infection: if there’s no infection then it’s likely something else but if there is one then they’ll keep a close eye on it.
‘M’ for mental decline: confusion, sleepiness, difficulty to wake up.
‘E’ for extremely ill: check for extreme pain, shortness of breath, and other uncomfortable things like that.
Reese says, “Anybody can develop sepsis whether you’re young, old, sick, or healthy. So, it’s really important to take sepsis seriously and any symptoms you may be having and get seen right away.”
Reese says that every one hour that the sepsis treatment is delayed increases the risk of turning into severe sepsis, septic shock, or even death by 8%.