Sheffield Sepsis Big Room celebrates World Sepsis Day
Participants from Sheffield’s Sepsis Big Room celebrated World Sepsis Day today to help raise awareness of the symptoms associated with the condition and make others realise its just as severe as a heart attack.
Participants from Sheffield’s Sepsis Big Room celebrated World Sepsis Day today to help raise awareness of the symptoms associated with the condition and make others realise its just as severe as a heart attack.
The team, which contains a diverse group of individuals, work to continuously improve patient experience and care across the Sepsis pathway at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.
Their work aims to reduce the time it takes to identify and prescribe treatment for patients who have Sepsis, reduce deaths and the wider negative effects sepsis has on both patients and their families.
They are currently focussing on speeding up the time it takes to check a lactate on a deteriorating patient.
Rising lactate indicates mortality and there is a significant increased risk of death with every 2 mmol/L rise in Lactate. The risk of death in Sepsis with Lactate >4 is 38%.
The group of doctors, nurses, HOOH, nurse educators from different areas and stages of training, have considered the causes of delays to checking a lactate.
They are now looking at the availability of blood gas machines, training of nursing and support staff to take a blood gas, staff members’ confidence to a venous gas plus blood cultures early and education about the relevance of a high lactate.
“We really need to raise awareness of sepsis so more people can recognise the symptoms associated with the condition and we can make sure people are diagnosed as quickly as possible.
Rachel Foster, Consultant of Infectious Diseases & Acute Medicine
“We urge anyone to escalate a patient as quickly as possible even if they have a slight instinct that they might have sepsis.”
If you are interested in getting involved with the Sheffield Big Room or want to find out more about their work, please get in touch with the team on sth.fca@nhs.net
