In 2011, Sepsis Alliance designated September as Sepsis Awareness Month.
Every September since, individuals and healthcare professionals, in every area of medicine and organizations big and small, are encouraged to help save lives by raising awareness of the leading cause of deaths in U.S. hospitals – SEPSIS.
We want everyone to know the signs and symptoms of sepsis, so no one has to unnecessarily suffer from this life-threatening condition. Together we can make this happen. The National Sepsis Alliance has prepared a toolkit with everything you need to raise sepsis awareness among your friends, family and others in your community. Check out the Sepsis Toolkit.
Over 1 million cases of sepsis occur each year in the United States; half of the patients who get sepsis will die. We are working to increase awareness of sepsis in observance of Sepsis Awareness Month. Included below are a variety of patient and clinician educational resources:
- Video from CDC Director and World Sepsis Day Ambassador, Dr. Tom Frieden, reminding patients and providers on the importance of detecting sepsis early
- Patient fact sheets created in collaboration with the Sepsis Alliance, Rory Staunton Foundation and the CDC
- Sepsis early detection and care improvement bundles from the Surviving Sepsis Campaign
- CDC’s Safe Healthcare Blog Series on patient stories and clinical best practices and a Twitter chat with clinical professional organizations and patients to raise awareness on sepsis
We hope you will join us in promoting sepsis awareness during September. We will continue to share resources, tools and individual stories in the coming weeks. To learn more and to receive future updates, visit our Web site and join the Great Plains Learning and Action Network.