Triage sepsis alert and sepsis protocol lower times to fluids and antibiotics in the ED

Early identification of sepsis in the emergency department (ED), followed by adequate fluid hydration and appropriate antibiotics, improves patient outcomes.

We sought to measure the impact of a sepsis workup and treatment protocol (SWAT) that included an electronic health record (EHR)-based triage sepsis alert, direct communication, mobilization of resources, and standardized order sets.

We conducted a retrospective, quasiexperimental study of adult ED patients admitted with suspected sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock. We defined a preimplementation (pre-SWAT) group and a postimplementation (post-SWAT) group and further broke these down into SWAT A (septic shock) and SWAT B (sepsis with normal systolic blood pressure). We performed extensive data comparisons in the pre-SWAT and post-SWAT groups, including demographics, systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria, time to intravenous fluids bolus, time to antibiotics, length-of-stay times, and mortality rates.

There were 108 patients in the pre-SWAT group and 130 patients in the post-SWAT group. The mean time to bolus was 31 minutes less in the postimplementation group, 51 vs 82 minutes (95% confidence interval, 15-46; P value < .01). The mean time to antibiotics was 59 minutes less in the postimplementation group, 81 vs 139 minutes (95% confidence interval, 44-74; P value < .01). Segmented regression modeling did not identify secular trends in these outcomes. There was no significant difference in mortality rates.

An EHR-based triage sepsis alert and SWAT protocol led to a significant reduction in the time to intravenous fluids and time to antibiotics in ED patients admitted with suspected sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock.