Estimated read: 4 minutes
This post is part of the Community Education series on the Connection path at The Gracewell Studio. For more plain language guides like this one, visit the Connection path here.
Four words can save a life. “Could this be sepsis?” Here are the sepsis warning signs every family should know, and what to say when you get to the emergency department.
September is Sepsis Awareness Month. I have spent my nursing career close to this condition, from quality management work on hospital sepsis protocols to the emergency department where I work today. And I still meet families every week who have never heard the word. So let’s talk about it.
The Numbers
Each year, about 1.7 million adults and more than 18,000 children in the United States develop sepsis. At least 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 10 children who develop it die during their hospital stay or are discharged to hospice (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2024).
Those are not small numbers. That is someone’s mother. Someone’s child. Someone’s best friend.
What Sepsis Is
Sepsis is the body’s extreme response to an infection. Instead of fighting the infection where it started, the body’s defenses go into overdrive and start harming its own tissues and organs (CDC, 2024).
Sepsis can start from almost any infection. A urinary tract infection. Pneumonia. A skin infection. A small cut. It is a medical emergency, and without fast treatment it can lead to septic shock, organ failure, and death.
Here is the part I want you to remember. Time matters. A large study of New York hospitals found that every hour of delay in completing sepsis treatment was linked to a higher risk of death (Seymour et al., 2017).
Rory’s Story
In March 2012, Rory Staunton was 12 years old. He cut his arm diving for a ball in gym class at his school in Queens. It looked like nothing. A bandage and back to class (End Sepsis, n.d.).
The next day he had a fever of 104. He was seen by his pediatrician and then in a New York City emergency room. He was told it was a stomach bug, given fluids, and sent home. But bacteria from that small cut had entered his bloodstream. Rory died of septic shock on April 1, 2012 (End Sepsis, n.d.).
His parents, Ciaran and Orlaith Staunton, turned their grief into action. In 2013, New York adopted Rory’s Regulations, which require every hospital in the state to use evidence based protocols to identify and treat sepsis early, with special protections for children (Rory Staunton, 2026; Sepsis Alliance, 2019). These regulations are estimated to have saved thousands of lives in New York (Sepsis Alliance, 2019).
Rory’s story stays with me. A small cut. A fever. A family who trusted that everything would be okay. Awareness is how we honor him.
How to Spot It: Think TIME
Sepsis Alliance teaches an easy way to remember the warning signs (Sepsis Alliance, n.d.):
- T is for Temperature: higher or lower than normal
- I is for Infection: signs of an infection, even a small one
- M is for Mental decline: confused, very sleepy, or hard to wake
- E is for Extremely ill: severe pain, shortness of breath, or “the worst I have ever felt”
The CDC also lists clammy or sweaty skin, a fast heart rate or weak pulse, fever, shivering or feeling very cold, and trouble breathing (CDC, 2024). Look for a combination of signs, especially after an infection, surgery, or a hospital stay.
At the Emergency Department, Say the Words
This is the most important part of this post.
If you or someone you love has an infection and is getting worse, go to the emergency department. When you get there, ask out loud: “Could this be sepsis?”
Here is why. That question helps the team think about sepsis early. When sepsis is suspected, there is a time sensitive set of care that should start right away. In the hospital world we call it a bundle. It includes (Evans et al., 2021):
- A blood test for lactate, which can show how stressed the body is
- Blood cultures, drawn before antibiotics, to find the germ
- Broad spectrum antibiotics, given as early as possible
- IV fluids if blood pressure is low or lactate is high
These steps are measured in hours, not days. Asking the question does not make you difficult. It makes you an advocate. And if you are the parent of a child in a New York hospital, Rory’s Regulations gave you a Parents’ Bill of Rights that supports you in speaking up (Rory Staunton, 2026).
Who Is at Higher Risk
Anyone can develop sepsis. Risk is higher for adults 65 and older, children under 1, people with chronic conditions like diabetes, lung disease, kidney disease, or cancer, people with weakened immune systems, and anyone who was recently in the hospital or had surgery (CDC, 2024).
Small Things That Protect You
- Clean every cut and scrape, and watch it for redness, warmth, or swelling
- Stay up to date on recommended vaccines
- Treat infections early and finish what your provider prescribes
- Know the TIME signs, and share them with the people you love
Dig Deeper
- CDC.gov/sepsis: signs, risks, and prevention
- Sepsis.org (Sepsis Alliance): the TIME tool and survivor stories
- EndSepsis.org (Rory Staunton Foundation): Rory’s story and resources for parents
- Aging.ny.gov: sepsis awareness for older New Yorkers
Share this with someone you love. You might never need it. But if you do, you will know what to ask.
This post is for education only and does not replace medical advice. If you think someone has sepsis, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.
This post is part of the Community Education series on the Connection path at The Gracewell Studio. For more plain language guides like this one, visit the Connection path here.
A Blessing for the One Who Needs to Speak Up
May you trust the voice inside you that says something is not right. May you find the words when it matters most. May the people caring for you listen closely. And may every family carry Rory’s story forward, so that no warning sign goes unseen.
Go gracefully. 🤍
About the Author
Rev. Kristina Soto, RN, BSN Registered Nurse · Quality Management · Interfaith Minister · Usui Ryoho Reiki Master · Founder, The Gracewell Studio
Kristina is a Registered Nurse with nearly two decades of clinical experience, including more than ten years in quality management and performance improvement, and now in case management. She is an ordained Interfaith Minister through One Spirit Learning Alliance, a Usui Ryoho Reiki Master, a Shamanic Reiki Practitioner, a New York State NYC Marriage Officiant, and the founder of The Gracewell Studio, where artful living meets well-being. Read more about Kristina.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). About sepsis. https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/about/index.html
End Sepsis. (n.d.). About Rory Staunton. Rory Staunton Foundation for Sepsis Prevention. https://www.endsepsis.org/about-rory-staunton/
Evans, L., Rhodes, A., Alhazzani, W., Antonelli, M., Coopersmith, C. M., French, C., Machado, F. R., Mcintyre, L., Ostermann, M., Prescott, H. C., Schorr, C., Simpson, S., Wiersinga, W. J., Alshamsi, F., Angus, D. C., Arabi, Y., Azevedo, L., Beale, R., Beilman, G., . . . Levy, M. (2021). Surviving sepsis campaign: International guidelines for management of sepsis and septic shock 2021. Critical Care Medicine, 49(11), e1063-e1143. https://doi.org/10.1097/CCM.0000000000005337
Rory Staunton. (2026, September). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rory_Staunton
Sepsis Alliance. (n.d.). Symptoms of sepsis. https://www.sepsis.org/sepsis-basics/symptoms/
Sepsis Alliance. (2019). Law inspired by 12 year-old’s death estimated to have saved almost 5,000 patients in New York. https://www.sepsis.org/news/law-inspired-12-year-olds-death-estimated-saved-almost-5000-patients-new-york/
Seymour, C. W., Gesten, F., Prescott, H. C., Friedrich, M. E., Iwashyna, T. J., Phillips, G. S., Lemeshow, S., Osborn, T., Terry, K. M., & Levy, M. M. (2017). Time to treatment and mortality during mandated emergency care for sepsis. The New England Journal of Medicine, 376(23), 2235-2244. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1703058
