Recycled Prolonged Fieldcare Podcast 19: Infection, SIRS, and Sepsis

If you sit on a patient long enough, infection has a greater chance of  taking hold and progressing to sepsis, or you may receive a patient who  has already been sick for days. Doc Jabon Ellis walks us through the  full spectrum from infection and SIRS to sepsis, shock and death.  Despite firm CoTCCC and ICRC recommendations for early antibiotics, in  the past we may have foregone that luxury because of lighting fast  evacuation times, maybe even thinking, ‘they’ll take care of it at the  next echelon.’  A great medic should not only treat their patient but  set them up for success at the next echelon, as sepsis is a testament to  how poor care during the TCCC phases of care can cost our patients days  and weeks in a hospital later.  But what if you are your own next echelon?  Point of injury to Role 1+  could be your own team house or single litter aid station.  Go down the  checklist on the right side of the PFC trending chart and make sure you  are taking care of anything that could result in an infection.  Have you  given those antibiotics?  How is your airway and respiratory care?    Did you replace any dirty IV or IO sites you placed in the field?  Are  you doing all your procedures an as aseptic manner as much as possible?   When will you debride?  Are you doing everything you can to prevent  pressure ulcers?  When will you call for a telemedical consult?  When your patient  develops a fever?  Blood pressure falling?  Altered mental status?   Do you know how to dilute your 1:1000 epinephrine to use as a push dose  pressor?  (It’s in the Tactical Medical Emergency Protocols) Is an Epi  drip appropriate, why or why not?  How much fluid will you give to help  prop up that BP? All questions that the medic prepared for PFC should be  looking to answer.    For more content, visit www.prolongedfieldcare.org