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Clinical toolkit could save
12,500 lives a year, claim campaigners
CAMPAIGNERS claimed that a freely
available toolkit could save the lives of 12,500 NHS patients in Britain each
year who would otherwise die from sepsis, which affects 102,000 people annually
leading to 37,000 fatalities. The #Sepsistoolkit campaign, launched on 23 February
2015, by NHS Change Day in partnership with the UK Sepsis Trust (sepsistrust.org),
aims to establish the toolkits in every organisation in the NHS. Additionally,
the campaign seeks to inform members of the public about the signs of sepsis.
Full details of the campaign are available at:-
ChangeDay.NHS.UK/Campaigns. Sepsis is a commonly occurring condition triggered by an infection.
In an attempt to overcome the infection, our bodies release a battery of
chemicals and hormones causing inflammation, and send white blood cells to fight
the invading organisms. When this response becomes uncontrolled,
inflammation affects the entire body and can lead to organ failure, this is
known as the sepsis syndrome.
Although many patients return to a normal life, those who survive the condition
may experience longstanding physical effects, and some suffer from psychological
difficulties resulting from their prolonged illness.
Early recognition and application of the 'Sepsis Six' interventions
dramatically improves a patient's prospects. More information for the public is available
at:-
SepsisTrust.org/info-for-the-public.
The signs of sepsis
can be remembered with a simple acronym:-
Slurred Speech
Extreme shivering or muscle pain
Passing no urine (in a day)
Severe breathlessness
"I feel like I might die"
Skin mottled or discoloured
Those particularly at risk include:- the very
young and old, pregnant women, long term steroid users. Anyone experiencing the
signs of sepsis should attend A&E immediately.
Dr Ron Daniels, CEO of UK Sepsis Trust and Global Sepsis Alliance, said:-
"A decade ago, I watched a young man die from sepsis. Opportunities to rescue
him had been missed, and his family were left devastated by a condition they'd
never heard of.
That's why I've spent 10 years devoted to improving outcomes from sepsis, and
why I founded the UK Sepsis Trust: a charity changing the lives of thousands of
people every year.
The reality is that survival can be a game of chance;- without the swift action
of individual junior doctors, nurses, assistants and allied professionals, many
of our supporters would not be here today.
That's why achieving change in sepsis has to be a grass roots campaign, and why
'Know your Sepsis Toolkit' is essential to our successfully fulfilling
our mission, a mission to save over 12,500 more lives every year. We are proud
to be working in partnership with NHS Change Day."
Sepsis survivor Anna Coles recounts her own story:-
Anna writes:- "I'd been ill since the Monday. It started with a sore
throat and loss of appetite, but progressed until I was so weak I could barely
stand up. I thought I just had the 'flu, but then I started vomiting and by the
Friday I was hallucinating and started to struggle for breath. My family
insisted I see the G.P. I was helped to the room, where I fainted and
don't remember much from there, until I came round on the doctor's bed. The
doctor said my rash was nothing to worry about, as she did the glass test and it
disappeared, so couldn't be meningitis! The only thing that worried her was that
my blood pressure was a touch low, so she sent me into hospital just to be sure.
In A&E, the doctors knew something was wrong, but couldn't seem to put their
finger on it. Then, a junior anaesthetist who happened to be walking past saw me
and was able to diagnose me quite quickly. He said that he had had a teenage
girl in the week previous with exactly the same thing and that I was suffering
with septic shock. I owe my life to this doctor."
Anna is now 26, and Mum to 4 year old Harry and 1 year old Sophie.
Frighteningly, were it not for the prompt action of one junior doctor, Anna
would have been a memory, Harry would have lost his Mummy and the world wouldn't
have been graced with Sophie at all. Such is the fragility of humanity when
faced with one of its biggest killers. |
