Almost 3,500 Hoosiers die from sepsis each year in Indiana hospitals. Now, ISMA and other stakeholders are working on guidelines to help Indiana clinicians identify and treat the condition.

Initial efforts include an educational toolkit on sepsis, available at www.ismanet.org/pdf/2019SepsisToolKit.pdf. In addition to a wealth of resources for clinicians, it contains tools to educate patients about sepsis, including printable posters, fact sheets and links to patient-focused podcasts.

The toolkit is being released by Indiana’s Sepsis Treatment Guideline Task Force. The group was established by House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1275, co-authored by ISMA member Rep. Rita Fleming, MD, (D-Jeffersonville) and passed by the 2019 General Assembly. ISMA is working with ISDH to identify physicians to serve on the task force and will participate in discussions to identify sepsis guidelines for office-based physicians.

Sepsis results from a serious infection that spreads to the bloodstream or important tissues. For background on sepsis and the Sepsis Treatment Guideline Task Force, visit www.ismanet.org/SepsisBackground.