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

Hillrom is a global medical technology leader whose 10,000 employees have a single purpose: enhancing outcomes for patients and their caregivers by advancing connected care. Around the world, their innovations touch over 7 million patients each day. They help enable earlier diagnosis and treatment, optimize surgical efficiency, and accelerate patient recovery while simplifying clinical communication and shifting care closer to home. Hillrom makes these outcomes possible through connected smart beds, patient lifts, patient assessment and monitoring technologies, caregiver collaboration tools, respiratory care devices, advanced operating room equipment, and more, delivering actionable, real-time insights at the point of care.

“Technology plays a key role in the early detection of patient deterioration, and improving rapid notification to caregivers is critical to rescue patients who become septic. We are pleased to partner with the Global Sepsis Alliance to raise awareness of sepsis, and the methods now available to help prevent the often-tragic results of this largely underestimated condition.”

— John Groetelaars, Hillrom President and CEO

We thank Hillrom for becoming a sponsor of World Sepsis Day and look forward to working together.

The second session from the 2020 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight is now available on YouTube (embedded above) and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts (just search for World Sepsis Congress in your favorite podcast app).

It was chaired by Niranjan ‘Tex‘ Kissoon from Canada and features the following presentations and speakers:

• Keynote: The Global Burden of Sepsis – Kristina Rudd, University of Pittsburgh, United States of America

• The Burden of Maternal Sepsis in Fragile Populations – Zenaida Recidoro, National Safe Mother Program Department of Health, Philippines

• The Burden of Sepsis in Children and Neonates: Lessons Learned from Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) – Matthew Westercamp, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States of America

• Challenges in Implementing Sepsis and AMR Surveillance – Uduak Okomo, Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The Gambia

• Drivers of and Inequalities in the Burden of Sepsis in LMICs – Flavia Machado, Global Sepsis Alliance, Brazil

Sessions are released weekly on Tuesdays. The next session will be ‘Antimicrobial Resistance: An Emerging Global Health Threat’ on 29 September 2020.

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The WSC Spotlight: Sepsis, Pandemics, and Antimicrobial Resistance – Global Health Threats of the 21st Century is co-organized by the World Health Organization and the Global Sepsis Alliance, initiator of World Sepsis Day and World Sepsis Congress.

Today, 17 September, marks World Patient Safety Day.

No one should be harmed in healthcare. Yet thousands of patients across the world suffer avoidable harm or are put at risk of injury while receiving healthcare every single day.

Sepsis is one of the biggest threats to patient safety worldwide, affecting 47 to 50 million people a year, many of them preventable. Therefore, the Global Sepsis Alliance wholeheartedly supports World Patient Safety Day and encourages you to participate.

Patient Safety is especially important in times of COVID-19 - the worldwide pandemic has unveiled the huge challenges and risks health workers are facing globally, including healthcare-associated infections, violence, stigma, psychological and emotional disturbances, illness, and even death. Furthermore, working in stressful environments makes health workers more prone to errors which can lead to patient harm. Consequently, the World Patient Safety Day theme is ‘Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety’ with the call for action ‘Speak up for health worker safety’.

About World Patient Safety Day

Recognizing patient safety as a global health priority, all 194 WHO Member States at the 72nd World Health Assembly, in May 2019, endorsed the establishment of World Patient Safety Day (Resolution WHA72.6), to be marked annually on 17 September. The objectives of World Patient Safety Day are to increase public awareness and engagement, enhance global understanding, and spur global solidarity and action to promote patient safety.

APS Livestream - 14h German Time

For this special occasion, our friends from the German Coalition for Patient Safety (Aktionsbündnis Patientensicherheit) are hosting an event, which will be livestreamed at 14:00h CEST (in German).

The Opening Session from the 2020 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight is now available on YouTube (embedded above) and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts (just search for World Sepsis Congress in your favorite podcast app).

It was chaired by Simon Finfer from Australia and features the following presentations and speakers:

• WHO Response to Global Health Threats: Sepsis, AMR, and COVID-19 – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization, Switzerland

• Entering a New Era for Tackling AMR – Hanan Balkhy, Assistant Director-General, World Health Organization, Switzerland

• The Next Generation of Environmentally Friendly Antibiotics – Ada Yonath, Nobel Prize Laureate, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

• Vaccination Saves Lives through Prevention of Sepsis – Seth Berkley, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, Switzerland

• The Patient Safety Dimension – Liam Donaldson, WHO Envoy for Patient Safety, United Kingdom

• The WHO Global Sepsis Epidemiology Report: Towards a Global Sepsis Research Agenda – Alessandro Cassini, World Health Organization, Switzerland

Sessions are released weekly on Tuesdays. The next session will be ‘The Epidemiology and Burden of Sepsis’ on 22 September 2020.

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The WSC Spotlight: Sepsis, Pandemics, and Antimicrobial Resistance – Global Health Threats of the 21st Century is co-organized by the World Health Organization and the Global Sepsis Alliance, initiator of World Sepsis Day and World Sepsis Congress.

Today is World Sepsis Day - countless events in all parts of the world are raising awareness for sepsis over the next hours and days.

In addition to joining local WSD Events (with a mask and keeping the distance of course), here are some last minute tips to get involved online or in your institution:

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Sign the World Sepsis Declaration

The new 2030 World Sepsis Declaration sets our goals and key targets for the next decade and serves as the north star of our global efforts, jointly with the WHO Resolution on Sepsis. You can virtually sign it to show your support - think of it as a petition against sepsis.

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Follow Us on Social Media

We are ‘World Sepsis Day’ on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook - make sure to follow us if you aren’t yet.

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Post to Your Social Media

Posting to your personal or company social media account raises awareness and helps to save lives. Templates for posts are below - it’s as simple as copying and pasting. All posts are 280 characters or less, meaning they work on Twitter effortlessly. Most work best with a WSD Infographic or one of our Sepsis Awareness Clips…

• Sepsis is not only a medical #emergency, but also a global health crisis, affecting between 47 and 50 million people a year - September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay. Join us in raising awareness for #sepsis - awareness saves lives! #stopsepsis #savelives

• 1 in 5 deaths globally is associated with #sepsis. Do you know the symptoms, sources, and risk groups of sepsis? This #WorldSepsisDay, share this video with a loved one - it could save their lives! https://youtu.be/NsPDjOX8QHA

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay - I am/We are participating to raise #awareness for #sepsis and #WorldSepsisDay - what are you doing? Start at worldsepsisday.org and help #stopsepsis and #savelives

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! Sepsis is the final common pathway to death from most infectious diseases worldwide, including #COVID19. These are the most common #sources of #sepsis.

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! While everybody can get sepsis, certain people are at an even higher risk. Join us in raising #awareness for #sepsis - awareness saves lives! #stopsepsis #savelives

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! #Sepsis is a medical emergency and must be treated immediately - if you see 2 or more #symptoms, act immediately. #stopsepsis #savelives

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! #Sepsis is the most preventable cause of death worldwide. It can be prevented by #vaccination, #sanitation, and #awareness. Everything depends on #you! Join us and #stopsepsis #savelives

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! #Sepsis does not end at hospital discharge - many #sepsissurvivors face lifelong consequences. Join us to raise awareness! #stopsepsis #savelives

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! Join our global movement now - it is as easy as downloading our free #infographics or #sepsis #awareness clips from worldsepsisday.org/toolkits and posting them from your account. Raising awareness starts with #you. #stopsepsis #savelives

• I am participating in the #WorldSepsisDay #Photochallenge to raise awareness for #sepsis, a disease affecting 47 to 50 million people annually, but often neglected by #policymakers, the general public, and even #healthcare #professionals - join the global movement now!

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay - I am participating in the #photochallenge to raise #awareness for #sepsis and #WorldSepsisDay - what are you doing? Start at worldsepsisday.org and help #stopsepsis #savelives

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Hashtags

The official hashtags for World Sepsis Day are:

• #WorldSepsisDay

• #Sepsis

• #StopSepsis

• #SaveLives

We explicitly discourage using #WorldSepsisDay2020, #WSD20, or #WSD - if we want to ‘trend’, it is imperative we all use the same hashtags.

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Infographics, Sepsis Awareness Clips, Posters, Fact Sheet, and More Free Resources

Our WSD Toolkit Section has tons of new material in many languages - including fact sheets, Sepsis Awareness Clips (covering symptoms, sources, risk groups, and more in about 30 seconds), posters, wallpapers, and of course our WSD Infographics in eight languages, among many other things - all for free and just two clicks away. You can use the material on social media or anywhere else on the internet, or even print it.

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WSD Photo Challenge

The WSD Photo Challenge is a quick and easy way to raise awareness for sepsis and show your support for World Sepsis Day - simply print the photo board you like best, write your name on it, take a picture, and upload to Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, or wherever you like.

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Sepsis in 3 Minutes - Updated Video

For this year’s WSD, we have updated our video ‘What Is Sepsis? - Sepsis Explained in 3 Minutes’ - and it’s now available in 8 languages. The video explains many facets of the complex topic that is sepsis in just 3 minutes.

Please send the video to your loved ones - it could save their life:

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Press Release

A press release as well as a press release template is available for you to customize and disseminate in multiple languages.

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2020 WSD Event Poster

After World Sepsis Day, the 2020 WSD Event Poster will summarize all events that took place around WSD this year - make sure to take some pictures.

On September 14th, we will have a form available here (URL to bookmark: worldsepsisday.org/wsdposter) allowing you to upload a short description of your event and the best picture, to be featured on the poster. The poster will be made available for download later this year, and be printed and shipped to you later this year or early next year.

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Donate to World Sepsis Day

We are a small non-profit charity trying to make the world a better place - every cent helps and will be put to good use.

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Thank you

Thank you so much for supporting World Sepsis Day - it really means the world to us.

For any questions, please contact us. Due to sheer volume, please allow us a couple of days to respond.

Ahead of World Sepsis Day on September 13th, the Global Sepsis Alliance and its members highlight that COVID-19 can lead to sepsis and therefore actions to improve the clinical management and raising awareness about sepsis are critical and save lives.

“The 2020 World Sepsis Day occurs at a time when mankind faces one of the greatest pandemics of recent times. Severe infections with COVID-19 are in fact viral sepsis – which is often not recognized”,  says GSA President, Prof. Konrad Reinhart, “Severely ill COVID-19 patients and those affected by sepsis from other pathogens — such as bacteria, other viruses, fungi, or parasites — are indistinguishable on clinical grounds.”

The GSA calls on government, regional, and global institutions such as the World Health Organization to increase their focus and allocate more resources to the fight against sepsis. These efforts will strengthen the response against COVID-19 and are key to achieve improved survival rates for COVID-19 patients. We also call all stakeholders to support the World Sepsis Day Movement and the GSA to raise awareness about sepsis worldwide throughout the month of September and beyond.

Read and share our press release below and use the templates to share the messages through your organization in your country.

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Press Release

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Template for Press Release

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For media inquires, please contact Simone Mancini.

Simone.Mancini[at]global-sepsis-alliance.org

+49 176 459 50 966

World Sepsis Day on September 13th is only 3 days away - with this post, we want to give you some ideas to show your support on social media, be it Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn, or something else entirely. Due to the current situation worldwide, your support on social media is even more important this year.

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Posts for Social Media

For social media, you can use the following posts, either with or without a WSD Infographic or a Sepsis Awareness Clip (most work better with). All posts are 280 characters or less, meaning they effortlessly work on Twitter (but also everywhere else, of course):

• Sepsis is not only a medical #emergency, but also a global health crisis, affecting between 47 and 50 million people a year - September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay. Join us in raising awareness for #sepsis - awareness saves lives! #stopsepsis #savelives

• 1 in 5 deaths globally is associated with #sepsis. Do you know the symptoms, sources, and risk groups of sepsis? This #WorldSepsisDay, share this video with a loved one - it could save their lives! https://youtu.be/NsPDjOX8QHA

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay - I am/We are participating to raise #awareness for #sepsis and #WorldSepsisDay - what are you doing? Start at worldsepsisday.org and help #stopsepsis and #savelives

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! Sepsis is the final common pathway to death from most infectious diseases worldwide, including #COVID19. These are the most common #sources of #sepsis.

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! While everybody can get sepsis, certain people are at an even higher risk. Join us in raising #awareness for #sepsis - awareness saves lives! #stopsepsis #savelives

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! #Sepsis is a medical emergency and must be treated immediately - if you see 2 or more #symptoms, act immediately. #stopsepsis #savelives

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! #Sepsis is the most preventable cause of death worldwide. It can be prevented by #vaccination, #sanitation, and #awareness. Everything depends on #you! Join us and #stopsepsis #savelives

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! #Sepsis does not end at hospital discharge - many #sepsissurvivors face lifelong consequences. Join us to raise awareness! #stopsepsis #savelives

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay! Join our global movement now - it is as easy as downloading our free #infographics or #sepsis #awareness clips from worldsepsisday.org/toolkits and posting them from your account. Raising awareness starts with #you. #stopsepsis #savelives

• I am participating in the #WorldSepsisDay #Photochallenge to raise awareness for #sepsis, a disease affecting 47 to 50 million people annually, but often neglected by #policymakers, the general public, and even #healthcare #professionals - join the global movement now!

• September 13th is #WorldSepsisDay - I am participating in the #photochallenge to raise #awareness for #sepsis and #WorldSepsisDay - what are you doing? Start at worldsepsisday.org and help #stopsepsis #savelives

The official hashtags for World Sepsis Day are:

• #WorldSepsisDay

• #Sepsis

• #StopSepsis

• #SaveLives

We explicitly discourage using #WorldSepsisDay2020 or #WSD20 - if we want to “trend”, it is important we all use the same hashtags.

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Sepsis Awareness Clips / WSD Infographics

Our Sepsis Awareness Clips and our WSD Infographics are a great and easy way to spice up your posts - both are of course free downloads in our WSD Toolkit Section. Our infographics are available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Turkish, Finnish, and German.

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WSD Photo Challenge

The WSD Photo Challenge is another amazing way to raise awareness for sepsis and World Sepsis Day - just download the photo challenge material from our toolkit section, print the photo board you like the best (there are 7 options to choose from), write your name on it, take a picture, and upload it to Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, using the hashtag #WorldSepsisDay or tag us in the post (@WorldSepsisDay).

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Facebook Picture Frames

Additionally, we encourage you to show support for World Sepsis Day by changing your profile picture on Facebook to one featuring our World Sepsis Day Picture Frames.

To do so, follow these easy steps:

1. Click this link to go to your Facebook Profile

2. Click on your profile picture, then ‘Update Profile Picture’

3. Click on ‘Add Frame’

4. Search for ‘World Sepsis Day’

5. Select a frame you like and click on ‘Use as Profile Picture’

Your picture will automatically revert to your normal profile picture after one week.

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Our Social Media Channels

We are ‘World Sepsis Day’ on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook - make sure to follow us if you aren’t yet.

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Thanks for supporting World Sepsis Day - we couldn’t do it without you!

The 2020 WSC Spotlight is only hours away – it starts on Wednesday, 9 September 2020 at 10:30h Berlin Time.

To make sure everything will go smoothly when the congress starts, please test your system prior to the congress. This can be done in the tab ‘System Test’ on the livestream page and already works right now.

If you haven't signed up yet, you can still sign up here and participate live and for free on 9 September 2020.

As you know, the 2020 WSC Spotlight will comprise of 6 sessions, with 30 speakers covering COVID-19 and the current worldwide pandemic, antimicrobial resistance, sepsis, how they are all linked, and much more. Participation is free and can be done from wherever you have an internet connection.

Can’t Make It Live?

Don’t worry - we will record all presentations and make them available for free on our YouTube Channel as well as a podcast on Apple Podcats. You can subscribe now on either platform to be automatically notified once new sessions are available. The sessions will be released weekly on Tuesdays, starting on 15 September with the opening session. Here is the full release schedule:

• 15 September: Opening Session

• 22 September: The Epidemiology and Burden of Sepsis

• 29 September: Antimicrobial Resistance: An Emerging Global Health Threat

• 06 October: Sepsis, Ebola, and COVID-19

• 13 October: A Comprehensive and Integrated Approach to Preventing Sepsis and AMR

• 20 October: Early Identification and Appropriate Clinical Management of Sepsis Saves Lives and Prevents AMR