Tasmania needs specialist teams to deal

There is much still to be done to make Tasmanians aware of the deadly effects of sepsis, yet the government is failing to fund dedicated teams that will save lives, writes Sallyann Geale

ON World Sepsis Day earlier this week, it was clear that Tasmania’s health system is failing Tasmanians.

Tasmania lags behind other states with sepsis awareness, prompt recognition and treatment of sepsis, health professional sepsis education and the provision of co-ordinated support for sepsis survivors living with post sepsis syndrome.

Essentially, to save lives our Tasmanian government and its health advisers need to lift their game, follow all other Australian states and territories and fund a health system wide sepsis management program.

The facts are clear. Despite the best efforts of emergency department specialists to establish a sepsis team to lead management, there is still no Tasmanian sepsis team in sight.

The only sepsis protocols existing in our three main hospitals’ emergency departments have not been updated since 2012. As yet no protocols operate in Tasmanian hospital wards – where patients can also develop sepsis.

Sepsis education among our health professionals is inadequate. We can all recall heartbreaking media stories quoting coroner reports that concluded that had sepsis been promptly recognised and treated, death would have been avoided. Alarmingly, sepsis cases brought before the Coroner comprise just some of the many cases that occur.

Along with a lack of awareness of sepsis signs and symptoms in the Tasmanian community – alarming because 80 per cent of sepsis cases begin there – is the fact that too many Tasmanians don’t understand that sepsis can start from any bacterial, viral or fungal infection, even from just a cut or a bite.

But if this is all sounding alarmist, then just talk with shocked Tasmanians who have lost loved ones to sepsis.

They will tell you that no one told them that their loved one was at risk of developing sepsis. No one warned them to look for the sepsis signs and

THE ONLY SEPSIS PROTOCOLS EXISTING IN OUR THREE MAIN HOSPITALS’ EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE 2012.