Understanding sepsis
Sepsis, also sometimes called septicaemia or blood poisoning, is the immune system’s overreaction to an infection. This reaction causes it to start damaging the body’s tissues and organs.
Failures to spot, diagnose and properly treat sepsis early may amount to negligence. Mistakes that may have been avoidable include:
- Misdiagnosis: Where a medical professional fails to spot the signs of sepsis.
- Delays: Where sepsis was not spotted as quickly as it ought to be or you were not treated quickly enough
- Test failures: Where the correct sepsis tests were not carried out or the results incorrectly stated or read.
- Medication failures: If you were not given the proper sepsis drugs or they were not administered correctly.
- Treatment failures: Where a medical procedure results into avoidable sepsis
- Surgical errors: Where a surgery results into contracting sepsis
If sepsis is not caught and treated effectively, it can cause organ failure and even amputation, or it can be fatal.
Many people continue to experience physical and emotional symptoms many years after they had sepsis, known as posts-sepsis syndrome.
