Pediatric Septic Shock Collaborative Improves Emergency Department Sepsis Care in Children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Emergency Medicine
• Critical Care
• Quality Improvement Science

Background:

• Pediatric septic shock is a life-threatening condition requiring rapid intervention.
• Existing care processes for pediatric septic shock vary significantly across institutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve mortality rates and key care processes for children with presumed septic shock.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of a multicenter collaborative approach to pediatric septic shock management.

Main Methods:

• A multicenter learning and improvement collaborative involving 19 pediatric emergency departments (EDs).
• Implementation of shared screening, care bundles, and educational materials.
• Analysis of process metrics (e.g., time to vital signs, fluid bolus, antibiotics) and outcome metrics (e.g., mortality, length of stay) using statistical process control charts.

Main Results:

• Improvements observed in timely vital sign assessment and antibiotic administration in the overall cohort.
• Enhanced timeliness of first fluid bolus and antibiotics in the ICU subgroup.
• A significant decrease in 30-day all-cause in-hospital mortality was observed in the overall sample.

Conclusions:

• A multicenter pediatric ED improvement collaborative effectively enhanced early sepsis management processes.
• A bundled, quality improvement-focused approach can significantly improve care for pediatric septic shock patients.