First, the system hosted a summit of care teams from 20 affiliates to discuss how to target this deadly condition. After the meeting, Sutter Health started using a checklist of sepsis symptoms that clinicians should be aware of, including the following:
- Body temperature well above or well below average
- Heart rate above 90 beats per minute
- Breathing more than 20 breaths per minute
- A probable or confirmed infection
Some Sutter hospitals also have staff wear badges displaying the signs of sepsis, according to Lake County News, and the system’s EHR can alert clinicians if a patients’ vital signs change.
The initiative launched last year. Since then, five Sutter affiliates have dropped their severe sepsis rates by an average of 17 percent, according to the report.
More articles on sepsis:
Study identifies bottlenecks in sepsis treatment: 4 things to know
Researchers find bacterial sepsis protein may inhibit cancer cell growth
Disrupting body’s microbiome increases risk of sepsis, study finds
