Sepsis

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30,000 Canadians are hospitalized each year because of sepsis. More than 30% of these patients will die. These statistics were unacceptable for a group of passionate clinicians in British Columbia working to catch sepsis early and treat it effectively to reduce mortality and morbidity.

Read the BC Emergency Department Adult Sepsis Guidelines – 2022 Update

In 2012, we created the BC Sepsis Network to connect physicians and nurses in every emergency department in the province who could champion sepsis improvement locally.

We used principles of large-scale change and distributed leadership to provide a mechanism for sharing, learning and accelerating their work, with an aim of reducing morbidity and mortality associated with sepsis. There are now more than 300 members who work in 36 hospitals and come together to focus on identifying and treating new infections early, preventing sepsis from developing as well as treating sepsis and septic shock.

Join the Network

Please note: the BC Sepsis Network is currently updating provincial resources given recent publication of revised Surviving Sepsis Guidelines. To stay informed, join the network above.

Learn How We Are Supporting Best Practices

Inpatient Units

Our toolkit features info and tools to initiate, implement, and spread best practices for sepsis in child and adult populations.

Learn more

Emergency Departments

Guidelines and resources can help you recognize the signs and symptoms of sepsis early, and treat it effectively.

Learn more

See all resources

BC Emergency Department Adult Sepsis Guidelines – 2022 Update

The provincial Sepsis Clinical Expert Working Group developed the BC Emergency Department Adult Sepsis Guidelines, taking into account the most up-to-date literature and expert opinion. Check out the updates guidelines, algorithm and comparison document!

2022 Emergency Department Sepsis Guidelines Poster

This poster is intended for use in emergency departments to help health care providers quickly spot and treat sepsis and sepsis shock.

Click to Download

BC ED Sepsis Guidelines 2022 Webinar

Learn More About the Updates in this Short Educational Video

Download the slides here.

981 Sepsis Cases & 172 Deaths Prevented, $50.6 Million Saved

Almost a decade ago, we created the BC Sepsis Network to bring clinicians together to share expertise and resources as well as lead local efforts to improve care for sepsis. Its since grown to more than 300 members who work in 36 hospitals, and a new study estimates our significant impact on the quality of sepsis care in BC over a recent five-year period.

Among their findings, the study’s authors estimate that our work to improve quality of care for sepsis prevented over 1,150 people from acquiring or dying from the disease from 2014-18. This led to a return on investment of over $51 million, including $17 million in in-hospital care savings and $31 million in follow-up care savings, meaning that every $1 invested into our organization to lead this work resulted in $112.50 in savings to the health care system.

Read the Study

Sepsis Survival Stories

Many people have had very personal encounters with sepsis; some stories end on a positive note, and some paint a picture of the difficult road that many sepsis survivors face. For World Sepsis Day 2019, we asked patients to share their experiences with sepsis:

Read the Stories

Join the BC Sepsis Network

The BC Sepsis Network is a highly visible member of the global sepsis community, participating in the first Annual Global Sepsis Congress and annual World Sepsis Day campaigns, and has been an early adopter of new Centre for Disease Control sepsis resources.

Fill out the form below to stay informed about our work, events and learning opportunities. You will receive newsletters that originate from our provider, CyberImpact, and you can unsubscribe at any time. Questions? Contact us at sepsis@bcpsqc.ca. See below for an inventory of past BC Sepsis Network Newsletters.