The UK Sepsis Trust (UKST) celebrated a milestone 200th registration for their suite of free, downloadable sepsis awareness lesson plans for all Key Stage groups last week
- Sepsis Savvy resources for schools was launched in November 2021 in effort to safeguard UK school children from this medical emergency that kills 48,000 people in the UK every year – more than breast, bowel and prostate cancers combined
- Sepsis can kill in under 24 hours, and can be triggered by any infection or injury, including Covid-19
The UK Sepsis Trust (UKST) and Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation (IFCF) extended their Sepsis Savvy awareness campaign to schools in November, intended to help protect students and their families against this life-threatening condition associated with 1 in 5 deaths worldwide (11 million people – that’s one life every 3 seconds).
Received with great acclaim by PHSE leaders and teachers, the comprehensive sepsis lesson plans are informative and interactive, and are carefully curated to each appropriate age group. The free, downloadable resources comprise lesson plans, real life case studies, educational videos, teaching resources and an animation narrated by UKST’s ambassador, Harry Potter and Star Wars actor, Warwick Davis. The campaign is also supported by TV medic, Paediatrician and UKST Ambassador Dr Ranj.
Corporate Fundraising Manager at UKST, Brian Davies, an educational professional with over 20 years’ experience, said: “It’s incredibly exciting and inspiring to have over 200 schools safeguarding their communities from the potentially devastating impact of sepsis with our resources. We still have a long way to go, but we are dedicated and determined to reach the remaining 31,900 schools in the UK! In addition to the resources, we are now starting to provide online assemblies and parental awareness workshops at some of the schools that were early to sign-up, which we hope to roll-out across all schools registered.”
The resources sensitively empower and enable students to safeguard themselves and their families with potentially life-saving knowledge about sepsis and what to do if they suspect it. Sepsis – the body’s over-reaction to any infection, which causes the immune system to attack its own organs – affects over 245,000 people every year in the UK. Some of the most common causes are urinary tract infections, infected cuts or bites, a wound from trauma or recent surgery, and chest infections. If not caught quickly, sepsis can result in organ failure, amputation and death, however, with early diagnosis it can be treated with intravenous antibiotics and fluids, and the outlook is often good for the majority of patients who seek urgent medical attention.
Dr Ron Daniels, CEO and founder of the UK Sepsis Trust comments: “Sepsis strikes indiscriminately, affecting the young and old and the previously fit and healthy. It’s not enough for only healthcare professionals to know about sepsis, we want everyone to be able to recognise the signs and protect themselves.”
Tarsem Dhaliwal, CEO of Iceland Foods and Trustee of IFCF, said: “We’re thrilled to be UKST’s founding partner in the Sepsis Savvy campaign and we’re confident these new resources will educate an unprecedented number of schoolchildren and their families about sepsis and the signs to look out for.”
For more information or to register as a Sepsis Savvy School click here, email schools@sepsistrust.org or call us on 0800 389 6255.
