Evidence Supports Using End-Tidal Carbon Dioxide to Detect Prehospital Sepsis

The term sepsis was originally used over 2,700 years ago in the poems of Homer and in the writings of Hippocrates to describe the processes of “rotting” or “decaying.”1,2 Sepsis is a major cause of emergency department (ED) visits and results in significant morbidity and mortality.3
With over a million Americans suffering from sepsis per year, the annual total treatment costs exceed $20 billion,4,5 making septicemia the most expensive inpatient condition to treat in the United States.5
Sepsis is caused by systemic inflammation that results from the release of enormous quantities of cytokines and chemokines into the bloodstream, causing an imbalance between the proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses.6
This maladaptive reaction arises in response to a blood infection causing coagulation dysfunction, an impaired immune response, metabolic abnormalities, and endothelial compromise which leads to tissue damage, organ failure, and death.6,7
As referenced earlier in this special JEMS focus on sepsis, the three accepted stages of sepsis according to the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), and Mayo Clinic are sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock.8,9
According to the ACCP and SCCM, the diagnostic criteria for sepsis involve exhibiting at least two of the following symptoms:

Fever greater than 38°C (100.4°F),
Heart rate greater than 90 beats per minute;
Respiratory rate more than 20 breaths per minute or arter...

Source: JEMS Patient Care - August 10, 2016 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: David Arroyo, MBS, BA, EMT-B Tags: Patient Care Source Type: news