Skip to main content

"Think Katie"


    Katie McQuestion, a 26-year-old radiology technician from Kenosha, Wisconsin, is someone that was affected by her having sepsis not being recognized fast enough. After contracting the flu, she developed sepsis. She complained of feeling sick on December 29 and was sent home sick from work the following day. She continued to feel worse as time passed, and on January 2, she passed away due to sepsis because no one could figure out what was wrong with her when she went to the hospital.Her condition rapidly deteriorated.

    Sepsis is hard to recognize since the signs and symptoms that a patient can present with are the same as many other diseases. It is not always the first diagnosis that a physician thinks about when a patient comes to get treatment. Physicians did not think of it whenever it came to figuring out what was wrong with her.


    Her story serves as a reminder of the potentially life-threatening complications of the flu, and the importance of seeking medical attention if symptoms worsen or persist and her mother speaks out in regard to this. It also shows the need for increased awareness and education about sepsis so that providers are better able to recognize it.


    Her family hopes that by sharing her story, they can raise awareness and prevent other families from experiencing the same loss that they had to go through. As her mother stated, "If this can help just one family avoid this, then it's not in vain." It is important for hospitals to provide more education to their employees about sepsis.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hospitals Taking a Stand Against Sepsis

    Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body's response to infection causes widespread inflammation and it getting into your bloodstream. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sepsis affects more than 1.5 million people in the United States every year, and it is responsible for more than 250,000 deaths annually. The key to surviving sepsis is early recognition and treatment, and hospitals are working to increase awareness about this condition.      One way that hospitals are helping to raise awareness about sepsis is by implementing sepsis protocols. These protocols are guidelines that help healthcare providers recognize the signs and symptoms of sepsis. The protocols are specific orders that should be followed, such as taking vital signs, collecting blood samples, and administering antibiotics, that should be followed when sepsis is suspected.Hospitals are also educating healthcare providers, patients, and the...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Sooner the Better

     It is important to recognize a patient has sepsis and to treat it as soon as possible. Implementing it when the patient first arrives with their chief complaint in the emergency department is ideal. A recent study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine found that the use of a sepsis protocol in an emergency department led to a 48% increase in the identification of sepsis cases. This improvement shows importance of implementing sepsis protocols in emergency departments.           The study involved the implementation of a sepsis protocol in an emergency department over a six-month period. All patients who presented with signs and symptoms of sepsis were evaluated using the protocol. The protocol included the use of early warning signs, blood tests, and other clinical presentations to identify patients with sepsis.      Patients who were identified using the protocol were able to receive the right antibiotics and othe...
Post a Comment
Read more