This study aims to improve our understanding of sepsis in Australian Emergency Departments. We will do this by analysing in great detail the spectrum of infection syndromes presenting to the Emergency Department of a typical large Australian hospital over a period of several years. This will allow us to:
1) Identify the number of patients presenting to hospitals each year with severe infections and the outcome of these presentations.
2) Analyse the factors and information available to doctors in the Emergency Department that are associated with overall prognosis in patients with infection.
3) Build a comprehensive picture of the spectrum of infective agents that cause patients to be admitted to Australian hospitals.
4) Identify the most appropriate combination of antibiotics which should be used in the early treatment of the most severely ill patients with infection.
The cornerstone of this project is a large database which will capture detailed information on all patients presenting to the Emergency Department of a typical large Australian hospital who are subsequently admitted with infection.
The sepsis registry contained detailed data from 9,719 patients admitted with infection over three years, for use in sepsis research. It was created by RBWH Emergency Medicine Staff Specialist, Dr Julian Williams, together with Associate Professor Jaimi Greenslade. Their work using the registry has led to the publication of five journal papers with several more planned.
Williams, J.M., Greenslade, J.H., Dymond, C.A., Chu, K., Brown, A.F. and Lipman, J., 2018. Characteristics, treatment and outcomes for all emergency department patients fulfilling criteria for septic shock: a prospective observational study. European Journal of Emergency Medicine, 25(2), pp.97-104.
Williams, J.M., Greenslade, J.H., McKenzie, J.V., Chu, K., Brown, A.F. and Lipman, J., 2017. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome, quick sequential organ function assessment, and organ dysfunction: insights from a prospective database of ED patients with infection. Chest, 151(3), pp.586-596.
Williams, J.M., Greenslade, J.H., Chu, K., Brown, A.F. and Lipman, J., 2016. Severity scores in emergency department patients with presumed infection: a prospective validation study. Critical Care Medicine, 44(3), pp.539-547.
Williams, J.M., Greenslade, J.H., McKenzie, J.V., Chu, K.H., Brown, A.F., Paterson, D. and Lipman, J., 2011. A prospective registry of emergency department patients admitted with infection. BMC infectious diseases, 11(1), pp.1-7.
Williams, J.M., Greenslade, J.H., Chu, K., Brown, A.F., Paterson, D. and Lipman, J., 2011. Prior statin use is not associated with improved outcome in emergency patients admitted with infection: a prospective observational study. Academic emergency medicine, 18(2), pp.127-134.
Williams JM, Greenslade J, Chu K, Brown AFT, Paterson D, Lipman J. (2010) Validation of the Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS II) and the Mortality in Emergency Department Sepsis (MEDS) score in an Australian Emergency Department. International