MONTRÉAL (October 19, 2015)- Researchers from Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, formed a multidisciplinary sepsis and shock response team (SSRT) to help alert emergency department providers when these disorders are suspected. An automated electronic sepsis alarm for early recognition, followed by standardized multidisciplinary management of patients with suspected sepsis or shock with SSRT, improved the compliance with standard care measures and overall mortality.

The study used two blind reviewers to retrospectively review abstract data on clinical trajectory and outcomes in all patients with sepsis admitted between September 2013 and September 2014 and compared the standard of care between the SSRT pre-implementation period and post-study period. Results showed that the observed/expected sepsis mortality index improved from 1.38 pre-SSRT to 0.68 post-SSRT implementation.

"Implementation of automatic electronic alerts followed by systematic assessment and early intervention will improve compliance with diagnosis and treatment protocols," said Dr. Moreno Franco, Mayo Clinic physician and lead researcher. "It will also improve the standard of care measures and outcomes of patients with severe sepsis and septic shock."