{"id":505,"date":"2014-02-17T15:32:51","date_gmt":"2014-02-17T15:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/ebn\/?p=505"},"modified":"2014-02-17T15:32:51","modified_gmt":"2014-02-17T15:32:51","slug":"sepsis-challenges-the-sepsis-six","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/ebn\/2014\/02\/17\/sepsis-challenges-the-sepsis-six\/","title":{"rendered":"Sepsis Challenges \u2013 the Sepsis Six"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chris Hancock Programme Manager,<\/p>\n

Rapid Response to Acute Illness Learning Set (RRAILS),<\/p>\n

1000 Lives Improvement Service<\/p>\n

After delivering a talk to a group of students, during which I had briefly mentioned sepsis, I was approached by one of the tutors. \u201cI want to say thank you because now I think that I finally know what my mother died from\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0She was a nurse tutor and therefore could be presumed to possess a reasonable knowledge of physiology and disease processes, yet had never heard of sepsis, this was no surprise.<\/p>\n

Sepsis, is \u00a0the body\u2019s reaction to infection which is responsible worldwide\u00a0 for someone\u2019s death every 3 seconds,\u00a0sepisis\u00a0is largely unknown to the UK public but, more worryingly, many healthcare professionals are ignorant of how to identify sepsis, the terrifying speed at which it progresses and the absolute necessity of rapid treatment. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In the UK, sepsis is estimated to cause the deaths of 37,000 people annually, more than from any single cancer, at a cost to the NHS of \u00a32.5 billion (1). As this figure is based upon Intensive Care data it is almost certainly an underestimate and does not take into account the burden of sepsis in primary and community care.<\/p>\n

Although sepsis accounts for almost 50% of Intensive Care bed days it should not be seen as an ICU problem (3). We know that a significant proportion of the death and harm that is caused by sepsis could be avoided by enabling rapid identification, escalation and treatment in the acute ward or even pre hospital setting.<\/p>\n

Terence Canning is one of the UK Sepsis Trustees who has moved back to Wales, following the death of his brother Mark from sepsis, to devote his time to raising awareness of sepsis.<\/p>\n

One of Terence\u2019s remarks has really stuck with me, he said \u201cit\u2019s not like cancer where you are searching for a cure, you know the cure, but you just need to make sure it\u2019s done every time\u201d.<\/p>\n

What he was referring to was the \u2018Sepsis Six\u2019, the six simple actions, including administering antibiotics, which should be delivered within 1 hour of sepsis being recognised. A recent study has suggested that delivery of all elements of the sepsis six within the one hour limit was associated with a reduction of 50% in mortality (4).<\/p>\n

In Wales sepsis has been declared a Tier 1 priority for the NHS. I am lucky enough to lead the Rapid Response to Acute Illness Learning Set (RRAILS) which has worked collaboratively with all Welsh Healthcare organisations, enable clinicians to improve the identification, escalation and treatment of sepsis and ultimately, of course, to reduce mortality.<\/p>\n

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