The Surviving Sepsis Campaign

The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC), was an initiative of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, the International Sepsis Forum, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. SSC has was developed to improve the management, diagnosis, and treatment of sepsis. The Campaign officially ended on December 31, 2008 however, a robust website providing information and resources for patients, healthcare professionals including guidelines for adults and pediatrics, and the free data collection tool is offered. The SSC list serve, with now more than 1500 members, remains active to help clinicians interested in initiating the bundles in their institution and those who might have questions related to clinical management of sepsis.

The SSC aimed to reduce mortality from sepsis via a multi-point strategy, primarily:

- Building awareness of sepsis
- Improving early diagnosis
- Increasing the use of appropriate treatment
- Educating healthcare professionals
- Improving post-ICU care
- Developing guidelines of care
- Facilitating data collection for the purposes of audit and feedback 

 
For more information, view and listen to presentations delivered at the North American Surviving Sepsis Campaign Summit held November 29, 2007 in Denver, Colorado.

Additional Resources

Videos on You Tube

iCritical Care Podcasts

 SCCM Pod-80 PCCM: Adrenal Status in Children with Septic Shock
Jerry Zimmerman, MD, PhD, FCCM, discusses an article published in the January 2007 issue of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, titled "Adrenal Status in Children with Septic Shock Using Low Dose Stimulation Test." Dr. Zimmerman is professor of pediatric critical care medicine at the University of Utah.  Dr. Zimmerman is director of pediatric critical care medicine at Children’s Hospital Regional Medicine Center in Seattle, Washington. (Sarthi M, et al. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2007; 8:84).

  SCCM Pod-77 CCM: Sepsis Bundles Associated With Decreased Mortality
H. Bryant Nguyen, MD, associate professor of emergency medicine at Loma Linda University in California, discusses an article published in the April 2007 edition of Critical Care Medicine, Implementation of a Bundle of Quality Indicators for the Early Management of Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock is Associated with Decreased Mortality.(Crit Care Med. 2007;35(4):1105).

 SCCM Pod-69 Congress Special: Epinephrine vs. Norepinephrine for Septic Shock
Djillali Annane, MD, discusses a study on epinephrine versus norepinephrine for septic shock he presented during the 36th Critical Care Congress. Dr. Annane is professor of critical care Raymond Poincare Hospital in Garches, France.

 SCCM Pod-49 Responding to the NEJM's Article on the SSC
Mitchell Levy, MD, FCCM, discusses a perspectives article published in the October 19, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, titled "Surviving Sepsis—Practice Guidelines, Marketing Campaigns, and Eli Lilly," which criticizes the campaign and its major funding source, Eli Lilly. (N Engl J Med. 2006;355(16):1640-1642)

 SCCM Pod-27 Dopamine's Influence on the Outcome of Shock
Jean-Louis Vincent, MD, PhD, FCCM, discusses an article from the March issue of Critical Care Medicine, "Does Dopamine Administration in Shock Influence Outcome? Results of the Sepsis Occurrence in Acutely Ill Patients (SOAP) Study." (Crit Care Med. 2006;34(3):589-597)

 SCCM Pod-24 Implementing the Surviving Sepsis Campaign
Michael Gropper, MD, PhD, is director of critical care medicine for the University of California San Francisco Medical Center and professor of medicine and anesthesiology at the medical school. He is one of the many healthcare professionals who have found success in implementing the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines and discusses the strategies for implementation as well as the challenges his institution faced.