Sepsis in emergency medicine toolkit

Recommendations

• Establish a mechanism to prompt escalation of care within the facility and, when appropriate, to a higher level of care.
• Develop a strategy for appropriate hand-offs and communication regarding the care of patients with sepsis.
• Develop a strategy for reassessment of patients at regular intervals.

Rationale

• Sepsis care management is complex and involves communication across a multidisciplinary group.
• Patients with sepsis can often go from mildly sick to critically ill in short duration of time.

Best practices

• Improving the ED-to-Inpatient transfer system at Tobey Hospital (Tobey Hospital, Southcoast Health, Wareham)
• A team-based response for patients with suspected sepsis (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston)