The Department of Emergency Medicine and the Academic and Training Affairs Department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center are organizing the Red Sea Emergency Medicine "RSEM" 2017 Conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on October 16-18, 2017.

This year the conference is a joint meeting with the Global Sepsis Alliance - "RSEM-GSA 17".

RSEM-GSA 17 will be the first conference in Saudi Arabia addressing sepsis in a comprehensive way, including the challenges and future actions that can be undertaken against sepsis, a global health threat with a national impact.

“The Red Sea Emergency Conference aspires to be a successful, innovative and expanding biennial event that will attract healthcare professionals from both the region and worldwide” wrote Dr. Mwaffak Bashir, Chairman of the DEM at KFSHRC-J and the RSEM Director in his welcome note on the RSEM website.

Dr. Diyaa Nawar and Dr. Sameh Sejiney, Emergency Medicine Consultants and the Chairs of the Organizing Committee gave the following note to the featured delegates:

“Meet national, regional, and international leaders in the world of sepsis and shock from various medical specialties, societies, and organizations… great opportunity for learning and networking…outstanding pre-conference workshops… Emergency Medicine residency programs competitions… spectacular venue and city”

Find out more and register now.

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On July 10th, Tuscany Region approved a detailed 3-year plan to fight sepsis. During the press conference, Healthcare Counselor Stefania Saccardi said:

“Sepsis is one of the most dangerous global threats for the health of our citizens. We are here today not only to raise the level of awareness of public opinion but to launch a plan for reversing the increase in the numbers of deaths from sepsis”.

The plan of Tuscany Region involves all the relevant stakeholders from patients to general practitioners, emergency services and hospital departments. The plan is based on the World Sepsis Declaration by the Global Sepsis Alliance and the WHA Resolution. It defines six lines of interventions:

1. Spotting suspect of sepsis across the health care system by raising awareness and improving clinical practice
2. Improving diagnosis and treatment of sepsis in every heath care setting
3. Reducing delays of in delivering appropriate care
4. Building an integrated system for monitoring and surveillance
5. Creating an interplay between diagnostic and therapeutic stewardship
6. Improve the access to microbiological services

8,000 cases of sepsis are registered in Tuscany every year, with a mortality of 36 %. Maria Teresa Mechi, Division Director for the regional program against sepsis, said: “This plan is an important addition to our ongoing work which aims at reducing antimicrobial resistance and the incidence of healthcare associated infections”.

“If it is caught early” - said Riccardo Tartaglia, Chief Director of the GRC Patient Safety Center - “antibiotics can control the infection. If not, there is little doctors can do. Yet awareness of the condition is poor, meaning it is often mistaken for milder conditions; that’s why sepsis is one of the main challenges that our healthcare services are facing”.

The GRC Patient Safety Center and Regional Healthcare Agency (ARS) will carry out the plan together with an ad-hoc steering committee drawing on the endeavors and results achieved so far. Tuscany is the first regional healthcare service in Italy committing to win the fight against sepsis. The common hope is that others will follow this example.

Applications for the Junior Faculty and Trainees' (JFT) Platform of GSA Advance are closing on Sunday, August 13th, 2017. 
If you want to apply for GSA Advance, please do so soon by filling out the form here. 

Please also spread this opportunity to look behind the scenes and become involved in an important global player like the Global Sepsis Alliance within your network and among your colleagues and friends. 

Membership in the JFT Platform is open to everyone who is 5 years or less into their faculty position, or is a student, resident, or fellow. Junior Faculty & Trainees from all backgrounds and disciplines are welcome to participate. Participation is not limited to those with medical backgrounds.
 

GSA Advance is a coalition of sepsis supporters around the world with the aim of advancing the mission of the GSA. It includes several platforms, one of which is the Junior Faculty and Trainees' Platform. The purpose of this platform is to bring the future generation of sepsis champions to the forefront of GSA activities, broadening their scope and impact.

GSA Advance members will help advocate, represent, and promote the various goals and efforts of the GSA. They will have the opportunity to join the various initiatives of the GSA, contributing to World Sepsis Day, World Sepsis Congress, the activities on social media, fundraising, and much more. Members will have a unique access to the largest professional sepsis network worldwide and will gather valuable experience. The GSA can also issue a certificate and a letter of recommendation.

For more information and to apply, please click here.

The full invitation letter by Imrana Malik, GSA Advance Coordinator, can be read and downloaded here. Please feel free to share this post and the letter within your network.

America has a $ 27 Billion Sepsis Crisis, reports Bloomberg. Based on a new government report that was just released this June, sepsis cases tripled in the decade from 2005 to 2014 in the US, causing 1.5 million hospitals stays at the end of 2014.
However, this does not necessarily mean that sepsis cases are rising, as other research presented in May and funded by the Centers for Disease Control came to very similar numbers, but also found out they have been relatively stable since 2009. The alleged uptick in sepsis cases has two reasons, as reported by Bloomberg: Hospitals have incentives to code sepsis more often, and doctors are getting better at spotting it. 
This can be further improved by greater awareness - “The hope is that by alerting the public as well as general practitioners and other people who treat simple infections, that we can educate them about the signs and symptoms", says Chris Seymour, assistant professor of critical care and emergency medicine at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Source: Bloomberg News

World Sepsis Day is exactly two months away - in case you have not planned an event yet, please find some inspiration for activities for World Sepsis Day on September 13 below.
 

Events for Medical Professionals

• In hospitals, set up staff sepsis awareness stalls with a sepsis quiz and sepsis exhibitions in the lobby
• Offer special educational sepsis trainings for staff around the World Sepsis Day
• Public Viewing of the WSC Spotlight: Maternal and Neonatal Sepsis on September 12, 2017 as an educational program for physicians, nurses, and health care workers
• Organize conferences, symposia, round table discussions, etc.

Public Events

• Hand out information leaflets in busy public spaces like markets, railway or bus stations, and town squares
• Set up small sepsis information stalls, use banners or balloons

• Sport events are a great opportunity for people to watch or take part. Organize a sport event like a city marathon, a bicycle tour, a sepsis team run, a zumba event, or countless other sport activities. Hand out information leaflets along the way. Plan a route where lots of people will see you. 
• Organize a family afternoon, together with sepsis survivors, if possible. Set up stalls and decorate the area to attract people. Think about having some music or performers and something fun for the kids like face-painting or sepsis-related handicraft work.

• Organize a sepsis photo exhibition with collecting photographs of activities in the fight against sepsis, academic, cultural or governmental events or sepsis patient stories. You can also participate in the existing photo exhibition from our friend and supporter Luis Gorordo Delsol from the Juarez Hospital in Mexico. 

• Set up a pink picnic. Pink Picnics are social events where pink is used to signify relation to World Sepsis Day. This can include pink salads or cupcakes, BBQ treats, beverages, plates, other table decor...and whatever you can think of! Use pink balloons for decoration. 

• Organize a Gala Event or a special dinner -  This is a great opportunity to raise awareness for sepsis in your network. For example, check out the Sepsis Heroes Gala Event by the Sepsis Alliance.

In Your Company/Organization

• Pink Cafeteria/Canteen – color your cafeteria/canteen pink, by using leaflets, stickers, pocket cards, balloons, and whatever else you can think of.
• Bake for your colleagues – Why not raise awareness for sepsis among your colleagues by making muffins with pink frosting, or a pink cake? They will certainly talk about you and World Sepsis Day…Make sure to also share leaflets, infographics, stickers, and other goodies with them as well.

Online

Show Your Support on Your Website, Social Media Presence, or Email signature:

• Tweet about or at World Sepsis Day, using the hashtag #wsd17, #stopsepsis, #savelives
• Share a WSD infographic on your Facebook page, or put up a post mentioning @WorldSepsisDay
• Temporarily add a pink banner or a button to your website, or set up a microsite informing your visitors about WSD
• Temporarily add ‘September 13 is World Sepsis Day – Stop Sepsis, Save Lives’ to your email signature
• Organize a Twitter chat, a webinar, a Reddit AMA, a Facebook Live, or a Periscope
   

Promotional Material for World Sepsis DaY 2017

Please go to the toolkit section on the WSD website and download the communication materials for WSD 2017, it includes material for public events, Pink Picnics, Photo Campaigns, etc.

Please visit our shop for ordering WSD articles for your special World Sepsis Day event.

Media Coverage

Use your network and the network of your colleagues, friends, members or supporters, to see if there is the possibility to have your event covered. In any case, inform your local media about your event as early as possible, as this increases the chances dramatically.

World Sepsis Day Event Poster

Like in the past five years, the World Sepsis Day Head Office will collect pictures from your events and create the World Sepsis Day Event Poster 2017, so please make sure to take great and high-resolution pictures of your activities.

Why Is World Sepsis Day Important?

World Sepsis Day is held on September 13th every year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against sepsis. Sepsis accounts for at least 8 million deaths worldwide annually. Yet, depending on country and education, sepsis is known only to 7 – 50 % of the people. Likewise, it is poorly known that sepsis can be prevented by vaccination and clean care and that early recognition and treatment reduces sepsis mortality by 50 %. This lack of knowledge makes sepsis the number one preventable cause of death worldwide.

Why Should You Participate in World Sepsis Day?

World Sepsis Day is a favorable moment to increase public awareness for this poorly acknowledged health care disaster, but also to show support and solidarity with the millions of people who lost their loved ones, or, as sepsis survivors, suffer from long-term consequences of sepsis. World Sepsis Day is a great opportunity to remind the public, media, national, and international health care authorities, health care providers, and health care workers, policy makers, and the governments that there is an urgent need to increase and improve education on the facility, regional, national, and international level. The easiest way to support World Sepsis Day: Share the link for signing the World Sepsis Declaration with your colleagues, families, friends, and everyone that should be informed about sepsis.
 

We wish you good luck in preparing your World Sepsis Day event and thank you for your valuable contribution in the fight against sepsis!

Today, the Global Sepsis Alliance is happy to welcome Abionic as the newest sponsor of World Sepsis Day.

Abionic is a Swiss company positioned at the intersection of medical technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. They have developed the fastest diagnostic platform in the world, allowing the screening of patients that are potentially developing sepsis in 5 minutes. This enables medical staff to significantly accelerate the triage process. 
 

We thank Abionic for becoming a sponsor and look forward to working together. 

About two months from now, on September 12th, 2017, the Global Sepsis Alliance and the World Health Organization will host the WSC Spotlight: Maternal and Neonatal Sepsis. The WSC Spotlight is a free online congress in the style of the 1st World Sepsis Congress last year, but focuses on a particular topic, which is maternal and neonatal sepsis.

The congress will be held in English and is open to everyone with an internet connection.
For more information on program, speakers, time zones, and to register for free, please visit www.wscspotlight.org

In 4 distinctive sessions, 25 speakers from all around the world will share their knowledge on maternal and neonatal sepsis and give updates on sepsis in 10-minute presentations and keynotes. After each talk, the speakers will answer live questions from the audience. After the congress, all presentations will be made available to view on demand on the World Sepsis Congress YouTube Channel and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts. 

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, new Director-General of the WHO, will open the congress on September 12th, 2017, one day before the sixth World Sepsis Day on September 13th. 

Today, the New England Journal of Medicine published our perspective about the resolution on improving the prevention, diagnosis, and management of sepsis by the World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO’s decision-making body. 

Innumerable patients around the world have died prematurely or faced long-term disability. This toll of unnecessary suffering drove Germany, with the unanimous support of the WHO Executive Board and at the urging of the Global Sepsis Alliance, to propose the resolution adopted by the WHA. The resolution urges member states and the WHO Director-General to take specific actions to reduce the burden of sepsis through improved prevention, diagnosis, and management.

To read the full article, please click here.