It’s sponsored by Frederick County Delegate Ken Kerr.
Delegate Ken Kerr (Photo from Maryland General Assembly)
Annapolis, Md (KM) Legislation dealing with sepsis is being sponsored by Frederick County Delegate Ken Kerr. He says the bill would cover hospitals and urgent care centers “:to make sure that if someone present with something that could possibly look like sepsis, they could screen for it, and the proper appropriate protocol would be followed,” he said.
The bill was referred to the House Health and Government Operations Committee.
Sepsis happens when the body releases chemicals to fight microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses which can lead to inflammation of the body. “And it causes organs systems to shut: kidneys shut down; liver shuts down. And then eventually respiration stops,” says Kerr.
The consequences can be fatal if treatment doesn’t begin. “And every hour that treatment is delayed is an eight percent higher chance that the patient will die,” he says.
Kerr says all too often, doctors and other medical professionals don’t realize a patient has sepsis. “A lot of times people misdiagnose and send people home. And then they end up back in the emergency department later that day, and they’ve already gone into septic shock, and they’re dead in a matter of hours,”: he says.
Under this bill if it passes, Kerr says patients who show signs of sepsis would be screened. If they’re positive for sepsis, treatment can begin. Sepsis can be treated with antibiotics and intravenous fluids.
Kerr says he’s sponsoring this bill on behalf of the Love for Lochlin Foundation. Lochlin was a five-year-boy who died in 2020 from sepsis linked to the flu. Organizers of this foundation say they’re working to educate people about the deadly impacts of influenza, and that no one should go through the pain and sorrow of losing a loved one, in particular a child, to a disease where a vaccine is readily available.
By Kevin McManus