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I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to  Mr. Tony Galbo for working with the James D. Moore Memorial Foundation for Sepsis Awareness to help us in our efforts to #MakeGeorgiaSepsisSafe. This process has been a long arduous endeavor; but nonetheless, one that is most needed and long overdue for the State of Georgia. 

We sincerely appreciate you for taking the time and putting forth the initiative to reach out to our State Lawmakers with regard to them supporting Senate Bill 361.  

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Dear, Chairman Watson, and Members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee;

My name is Tony Galbo, I am writing to ask for your support for the proposed mandatory sepsis Protocol Legislation SB361 (Jay’s Law) authored by Senator Jackson and sponsored by Senators Jones, Karinshak and Jordan.  

In May of 2012 my five-year-old daughter, Gabriella Galbo, needlessly died of septic shock after an infection went repeatedly untreated by doctors.  After her passing, my wife and I worked to get sepsis legislation passed in Illinois, and in August of 2016 SB2403 Gabby’s Law was passed and signed into law by Governor Bruce Rauner.  

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This law is to ensure that every hospital in the state of Illinois adopts, implements, and periodically updates sepsis protocols, helping to further prevent needless deaths from sepsis.  As I am sure you are familiar, sepsis is the body’s overwhelming immune response to an infection, and can affect any person, of any age, and can result from any infection.  

Lack of protocols and recognition cost patients timely, lifesaving treatment, 288,000 countless deaths, and in addition sepsis costs hospitals an estimated 26-52 billion dollars a year across the U.S.  Lives lost, and billions spent, all as a result of something which is highly preventable, and treatable if the proper protocols for recognizing and treating are in place.  Currently, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Indiana all have state-mandated sepsis protocols in every hospital.  No individual should have to enter into any hospital, in any state, and wonder if they have protocols in place against the safeguard of sepsis, a condition that requires the same urgency as a heart attack or stroke.

Last year, I was contacted by Karen Moore, your constituent from Savanah Georgia, who lost her husband James to sepsis in 2009, in the hopes that I could help her initiate sepsis legislation in Georgia. James went to the E.R. and was in septic shock and was in critical condition. His signs and symptoms for sepsis were ignored for many hours. By the time he was transferred to the ICU James was in MODS ( Multi-Organ Dysfunction), ARDS ( Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). If James’s symptoms were recognized when he got to the E.R. they could have started fluid resuscitation to keep his blood pressure up, taken CBC, CMP, Latic Acid and Blood Cultures and started James on Broad Spectrum Antibiotics to try to combat his infection which was unknown at the time.

For every hour severe sepsis goes untreated your mortality rate goes up by 8%. By the time James was admitted to the ICU his mortality rate went up by 50%-60% and how much time went by before they started life-saving treatments. They had squandered any and every chance of trying to save James.

Karen and James should’ve celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary this year. Karen is also a sepsis survivor and was saved because her E.R. doctors knew the signs and symptoms. Karen has tirelessly educated herself and has been educating others on the signs and symptoms of sepsis and through her advocacy has saved countless lives. Karen has been working with Senator Jackson and Representative Gordon on getting SB361 (Jay’s Law) introduced into law.

Jay’s law will mandate all hospitals have the most current sepsis protocols for both pediatric and adult patients. Every patient showing signs and symptoms will be screened for sepsis as urgent as a heart attack and stroke patient.

Mandatory sepsis protocols will save lives, every second matter. I’ve testified for both Illinois SB2403 (Gabby’s Law) and Indiana HB1275 (Josslyn’s Law) and was present for both stakeholders’ meetings.

Both Illinois and Indiana’s Hospital Associations and Department of Health supported sepsis legislation. I’ve been invited to the CDC many times to discuss sepsis, been to the CMS in Baltimore, I am co-chair for the sepsis working group for The Patient Safety Movement Foundation. Attached below is a summary of my daughter’s story, and what was initiated in Illinois. I urge you to support in helping to make Georgia sepsis safe so that no other family will have to suffer the needless consequences of this preventable condition.  Please feel free to contact me with any further concerns and or questions. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Tony Galbo

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GEORGIA It’s Time To Act 

We Need Your Help To #MakeGeorgiaSepsisSafe!

Please join us in the fight for Statewide Sepsis Protocols in Georgia. It only takes a minute to ASK your lawmakers to SUPPORT and Co-Sponsor Georgia Senate Bill 361 – #JaysLaw.

Find your legislator by using the following link – https://openstates.org/ga/legislators/

Then contact both your House and State Representatives via a telephone call, postal letter or email and ask them to co-sponsor and support GA SB361 – Jay’s Law.

We need your support!

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#MakeGeorgiaSepsisSafe #SepsisProtocolsInGeorgia #SepsisHospitalProtocols #JDMMFoundation #SepsisAlliance #SepsisAwareness #Georgia #SepsisLivesMatter #SepticShock #SepticShockSurvivor #SepsisSucks #SepsisKills #SepsisAwareness #SaySepsis #KnowSepsis #SaySepsisSaveLives #TheFightContinues

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Please join us in the fight for Statewide Sepsis Protocols in Georgia. It only takes a minute to ASK your lawmakers to SUPPORT and Co-Sponsor Georgia Senate Bill 361 – #JaysLaw. So as to require hospitals to establish protocols for the early recognition and treatment of #SEPSIS.

Click the link to download –  GA SB361 

GA SB361

Sepsis does not discriminate. If you think it can’t or won’t affect you or your family; THINK AGAIN!
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There must be a change in hospital policies and protocols immediately. Something must be done NOW!! This is mission-critical. Based on statistics from the CDC, Sepsis Alliance and the state population; almost 10,000 people die per year from sepsis or septic shock syndrome in Georgia. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in three patients who die in a hospital has sepsis.

Sepsis is the third leading cause of death in the United States. It kills more people than breast cancer, prostate cancer and AIDS combined. There are over 1.6 million cases of sepsis per year in the United States and more than half of Americans don’t know the early warning signs. This infection costs the government more than $26 billion in health care expenses annually and sepsis is the most expensive condition treated in hospitals.

Most deaths from sepsis are preventable.  However, due to the lack of public awareness and poor hospital procedures, patients are often diagnosed too late and ultimately die from the infection.

Sepsis is a solvable crisis. Not only is it highly treatable, but it also has an 80 percent survival rate if it is recognized early enough by healthcare providers.  

It is critically important that prompt, appropriate care is administered by healthcare providers during the Golden Hour – the first hour of sepsis. Sepsis is a time-sensitive illness and every second count. It has been said that at least one-half of the 288,000 annual United States victims would have survived if antibiotics and fluids had been given in that first hour. You can see, it is critical that treatment isn’t delayed.

Hospital systems that have introduced sepsis protocols into emergency departments and wards have drastically reduced sepsis mortality and readmission rates as well as healthcare costs. Sepsis protocols in Georgia will fast track all hospitals and clinicians to be on the same page in screening, suspecting and diagnosing septic patients

Currently, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Indiana have adopted state-mandated protocols for sepsis. Each state requires every hospital to adopt evidence-based protocols to improve the rapid diagnosis and treatment of sepsis and reduce misdiagnoses and medical errors. With these state-mandated protocols, countless lives can be saved each year. 

My family has been torn apart and devastated by sepsis. I have friends and members of my community whose lives have also been severely impacted. Don’t let this happen to you or your loved ones.

Find your legislator by using the following link – https://openstates.org/ga/legislators/

Then contact both your House and State Representatives via a telephone call, postal letter or email and ask them to co-sponsor and support GA SB361 – Jay’s Law.

We need your support!

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#MakeGeorgiaSepsisSafe #SepsisProtocolsInGeorgia #SepsisHospitalProtocols #JDMMFoundation #SepsisAlliance #SepsisAwareness #Georgia #SepsisLivesMatter #SepticShock #SepticShockSurvivor #SepsisSucks #SepsisKills #SepsisAwareness #SaySepsis #KnowSepsis #SaySepsisSaveLives #TheFightContinues

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The Study

The study results demonstrate “improved care for patients with sepsis as evidenced by increased compliance with performance metrics and decreased risk-adjusted mortality over the first 2 years of the ongoing initiative. A state-wide initiative using regulations and non-financial incentives appears to have substantially changed care,” Mitchell M. Levy, MD, from the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, and colleagues write.

The mandate required hospitals to develop and submit for approval evidence-based sepsis care bundles, as well as report on sepsis care and patient mortality. Hospitals were allowed to tailor bundles for their specific hospitals, but were required to include the following:

• 3-hour bundle (all severe sepsis patients): administration of antibiotics and measurement of lactate levels within 3 hours of sepsis diagnosis, with collection of blood cultures before giving antibiotics
• 6-hour bundle (for septic shock: systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg, or lactate ≥4 mmol/L): intravenous fluid bolus (30 cc/kg), vasopressors for refractory hypotension, remeasurement of lactate levels within 6 hours of triggering the bundle

Study Impact

To investigate the impact of the sepsis initiative, the researchers analyzed data on 91,357 adult patients with sepsis and septic shock (median age, 71 years) seen at 183 hospitals from April 2014 to June 2016.

Results showed that for 81.3% of these patients (n = 74,293), a sepsis bundle was triggered. Use of the 3-hour bundle increased from 53.4% to 64.7% (P < .001), and use of the 6-hour bundle among eligible patients increased from 23.9% to 30.8% (P < .001).

Among patients who received the sepsis bundle, risk-adjusted mortality decreased from 28.8% before the initiative to 24.4% after it (P < .001).

That translates to a 4.4% absolute decrease and a 15% relative decrease in risk-adjusted mortality during the study period.

Hospitals with greater compliance with the sepsis bundles had lower mortality than those with less compliance. Risk-adjusted mortality for the least compliant hospitals was 29.8% vs 23.5% for the most compliant. Also, for hospitals with greater compliance, lengths of stays were shorter.

Although the study cannot prove that the sepsis bundles directly improved mortality, the authors write, “there is reason to believe that this may be the case,” particularly because bundle initiation and completion correlated with improved patient outcomes.

History of the Sepsis Mandate

In 2013, New York state introduced the nation’s first mandated public reporting initiative for sepsis. The New York state initiative was motivated by the death of 12-year old Rory Staunton, who died from undiagnosed sepsis after developing an infection from a scrape. The issue gained widespread attention from the media, as well as from advocacy groups, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and from the governor of New York.

“Governor Andrew Cuomo and then Commissioner of Health Nirav Shah responded to Rory’s preventable death by mandating public reporting of sepsis process and outcomes, with the goal of improving earlier diagnosis and management of sepsis,” Levy said in a news release.

“The reason the state adopted these particular bundles is that our group had published evidence that there was a strong association between compliance with these interventions and improved survival in sepsis,” he added.

“The New York State sepsis initiative provides strong evidence that compliance with sepsis performance measures is associated with improved survival in these critically ill patients,” Levy explained. “At least in sepsis, our study strongly supports the value of public reporting of outcomes.”

The study was funded by the New York Department of Health. One or more authors report having received grants from one or more of the following organizations: the National Institutes of Health, the Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development Investigator-Initiated Research program, and IPRO.

Article Credit and Citation: Fewer Deaths After Sepsis Protocol Mandate – Medscape – Sep 07, 2018.

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Are you interested in being a part of this, or know of someone who would be a great addition? Read on.

Board of Directors Requirements

We’re comprised of leaders from the nonprofit and for-profit sector who are dedicated to our mission. Serving on the board is a great opportunity for someone who:

1. Has strong leadership and governance skills
2. Views nonprofit management through an entrepreneurial “startup venture” lens
3. Is passionate about advocating and improving public awareness of sepsis and septic shock syndrome

Board members are expected to have financial acumen to read and understand the JDMM Foundation’s financial statements, and to help the board fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities.

Board members are expected to:

• Attend 75% of the meetings per year
• Read board materials in advance of board meetings and come prepared to ask questions
  and participate in discussions
• Serve on one or more committees of the board and to actively participate in committee
  work
• Play an active role in securing the financial resources necessary for us to achieve our
  mission
• Leverage personal relationships and connections to help the development committee
  and staff identify and solicit potential funders, as well as directly invest in the JDMM Foundation’s work by making a personal contribution each year
• Responsibly represent the JDMM Foundation to their respective communities and to
  publicly advocate for our mission, programs, and services as appropriate

Board terms last for one or two years, and board members can serve for up to two consecutive terms.

Previous board members who want to be nominated for another term must be off the board for at least one year before being considered again.

Board of Directors – Desired Skills and Expertise

We are currently recruiting for diverse leaders with expertise in the following areas:

• Philanthropy and Sponsor Cultivation – We’re looking for people with extensive professional experience and significant executive leadership accomplishments in business, government and philanthropy. We seek someone who has a commitment to and understanding of the JDMM Foundation’s potential donors, sponsors and partners, preferably based on experience. This person should have savvy diplomatic skills and a natural affinity for cultivating relationships and for persuading individuals, businesses and organizations about the benefits of helping JDMM Foundation succeed and grow via their financial/in-kind contributions. This person should also have the essential qualities of integrity, credibility, and a passion for expanding JDMM Foundation’s efforts across the state.
• Government Relations and Legislative Issues
  We’re looking for someone who is familiar with, and has experience in, Georgia government, and who understands how the state legislature works. In particular, we seek someone who is non-partisan and has good relationships with both Republican and Democrats in the legislature, political parties and state agencies.This person should act as an advocacy leader for JDMM at the State Capitol and increase awareness there about the importance of our mission, and expand our reach.This person should also have experience leading public awareness campaign – and running them by them by leveraging a variety of channels, vehicles, and social media — and the ability to help connect the JDMM Foundation with key decision makers in state government.
• Finance and Accounting – We’re looking for a finance/accounting professional with expertise in reviewing and interpreting financial information and understanding complex financial reports. We need a leader to act as our finance advocate, and assist us with understanding economic trends.

The ideal candidate for our finance/accounting leader will have these qualifications:

1. Experience with nonprofit financial management, including developing budgets, restricted and unrestricted grant reporting, filing Form 990s, and overseeing audits
2. The willingness to bring a financial lens to strategic planning and decision making
3. The willingness to lead the Finance committee and/or serve as the board treasurer

Committee Members – Duties and Responsibilities

To effectively break down the board’s governance duties, we want to create committees on which our board members, and advisory members, can serve.

Some committees will be standing (“permanent”) committees to handle ongoing issues while ad hoc (“special”) committees will be created to handle short-term issues and events. The goal: To handle regular needs as well as new issues as they arise.

We want to assign a board member to chair or sit on at least one board, along with 2-4 advisory members, who will meet bimonthly to:

• Research and break down complex issues and present them to the board, which can then move forward in making informed, efficient decisions
• Engage with an issue more deeply and consistently than the board as a whole can
• Use their great skills and specialties as a way to serve instead of sitting on the board
• Consider the committee as a “test the waters” training ground for newcomers to increase their involvement, learn leadership skills and develop confidence before moving on to board leadership

The Committees

• Compliance – The nuts and bolts of the JDMM Foundation, and the guts of our organization. Members of this committee handle legal, finance, ethics, and make sure we’re doing things correctly and everything is in tip-top shape.
• Fundraising – The money people. Members of this committee seek out the best ways — and the best people and organizations — who will fund, sponsor and donate to us to ensure we have the cash needed to run our programs and events.
• Marketing– The ones who spread the word. Members of this committee are media- and marketing-savvy who know how to reach the right audience for every event, target the people who are most likely to become JDMM Memorial Foundation members, and get local/state media to shed more light on our efforts.
• Programming– The event planners. Members of this committee will help put on events, everything from picking topics and panelists to finding venues and vendors and making sure everything runs smoothly all the way until the last person has left the event.
• Expansion – The “big idea” people. Members of this committee will be tasked with finding ways for making our short-, mid- and long-term plans become reality, and suggesting their own ideas and methods for how the JDMM Foundation can expand its efforts and its geographic reach while staying true to its mission.

Ready to become part of a phenomenal team?

If you want to be a part of this amazing organization click HERE to complete and submit the prospective board member questionnaire.

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Sepsis is a medical emergency, and should be treated as such. Immediate, intensive care is often needed in sepsis patients, and having the knowledge and tools to handle such a case is critical. It is our mission to increase awareness of sepsis, including the prevention and treatment of the disease, so that we can help ensure that future sepsis patients are treated effectively and successfully.

We are grateful that there are a number of organizations who are dedicated to raising awareness for this disease. For example, the Surviving Sepsis Campaign has created an international initiative to raise awareness of sepsis, which includes improving diagnosis, using appropriate treatment and educating healthcare professionals. Education is key. With early intervention and treatment, sepsis can be treated and patient lives can be saved.

Every September healthcare professionals celebrate Sepsis Awareness Month, a month of activities and educational opportunities targeted at raising awareness. The month was created by the Sepsis Alliance and was designed to encourage people to get more involved in raising awareness of sepsis. In addition, World Sepsis Day on Sept. 13 brings together healthcare professionals and people from around the world to recognize sepsis as a global health issue.

More About Sepsis

Unfortunately, sepsis is still a relatively unknown bodily response, and many people are unsure of what it actually is. Doctors often have patients or family members, and in some cases colleagues, who do not fully understand sepsis, and therefore do not fully understand the implications of having sepsis. This signals the need for more awareness, not only of the fact that it exists, but that there are preventative measures and treatments that patients should take.

Sepsis kills more people annually than prostate cancer, breast cancer, and HIV/AIDS combined but public awareness is still dangerously low. This fact remains, unfortunately, because those patients who become septic maybe physical unable to share their stories, and they sometimes die quickly, whereas those people who are living with cancer or HIV/AIDS may have more of an opportunity to tell their story and raise awareness. Those patients who do survive sepsis are often so grateful to have survived that they do not want to relive their traumatic experiences by telling their story over and over again.

In addition to the lack of patient stories being shared, sepsis awareness may be low because it is particularly difficult to define sepsis. While we know it occurs when your body starts to fight itself instead of germs, sepsis can start in a number of places in the body and can be caused by a number of infections.

It is critical that society as a whole understands sepsis and the risks it poses to all patients, especially those who are very young, very old or have compromised immune systems. Together, we can share our stories and connect with others to spread the word.

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The recently-launched JDMM Foundation (James D. Moore Foundation for Sepsis Awareness, Prevention and Advocacy) aims to support advocacy, awareness, research, early diagnosis and the treatment of sepsis and septic shock syndrome in adults and children. The foundation’s goal is to provide for the care and well-being of adults affected by sepsis, as well as their families.

The Foundation was created in memory of James D. Moore, who succumbed to sepsis in May, 2009. What started out as a visit to the doctor for allergy symptoms quickly became a trip to the emergency room and an infection in his blood.

On May 5^th, nineteen-hours after entering the hospital, James passed away. Seven years later, James’ wife Karen Moore (Click HERE to read her sepsis survivor story) found herself in the ER with a diagnosis of sepsis. After nine days in the hospital, Karen was sent home to recover.

With the launch of the Foundation comes the hope that we as a society can come together to share the stories of loved ones who have succumbed to sepsis, and those who have survived. As the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, sepsis is a shockingly unknown disease. It is our goal to change that.

In order to make important connections, share stories and advocate for patients, our Foundation will hold a number of upcoming events, such as a yearly golf tournament, a 5K fun/color run and a black tie gala. We hope to raise money for sepsis research, which we hope will provide more efficient diagnosis and more effective treatments.

On a good note, new research is being conducted every day to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis. For example, researches at the University of Bradford recently highlighted a standard assessment called the National Early Warning Score, which measures patients’ respiration rate, oxygen saturations and level of consciousness. In this model, a score is assigned to the patient based on clinical observations. This model accurately predicted sepsis among hospitalized patients 16 years old and older in England.

Researches in Scotland are now trying to find out if genes play a role in which patients get sepsis and which ones do not. In Scotland, about 3,500 people die of sepsis every year, according to the BBC. Edinburgh University researchers are hoping a major study will help them better understand who gets sepsis and why.

News such as this gives us great hope that there can be a future where sepsis is accurately diagnosed, appropriately prevented and effectively treated. We hope that future is one that we will see in our lifetime, which is why we are working hard to advocate for patients and share their stories.

May 5th, 2019 marks the 10-year anniversary of James’ death. Please join us as we advocate and fight for patients and their loved ones.

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Here at the James D. Moore Memorial Foundation, we are dedicated to raising awareness, increasing prevention and advocating for patients of sepsis. We hope to raise awareness about sepsis, which we hope will help raise funds for research, so that no one ever has to experience what James D. Moore experienced.

Sepsis occurs when the body overreacts to infection, causing a life-threatening response in the body that could lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death. In a normal, healthy body, the immune system fights germs to prevent infection. These germs include bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites. When your body identifies an infection, your immune system kicks into action to fight it. If your immune system is not quite strong enough to fight the infection on its own, your doctor will prescribe medications such as antibiotics to help support your immune system in the fight.

Unfortunately, sometimes your immune system stops fighting against the germs and instead starts attacking itself. Some people are more susceptible to sepsis due to a compromised or not strong enough immune system, such as babies or the elderly. When sepsis begins, patients are diagnosed according to a certain set of signs and symptoms. This generally includes presenting with more than one of the signs of sepsis.

Severe Sepsis

Severe sepsis includes signs of organ dysfunction, such as difficulty breathing, low urine output and changes in mental status. When severe sepsis occurs, patients will receive treatment in intensive care units to prevent the progression of the disease to septic shock. Septic shock is diagnosed when your blood pressure drops to dangerous levels.

Because sepsis can occur as the result of a number of different types of infections, it is important to take steps to help prevent against it. Vaccinations for viruses, such as the flu or chicken pox, can be helpful in preventing sepsis, as they increase your immune system’s ability to fight viral infections. You can also help prevent sepsis by caring for wounds immediately. Even the smallest cut allows bacteria to enter your body, increasing your chances for developing an infection. Thus, you should clean any wound immediately, treat it and monitor its progress for signs of infection.

Sepsis is considered a medical emergency and it should be treated quickly and as efficiently as possible. Sepsis can be treated a number of ways, including by antibiotics, which are designed to treat both the infection that started the sepsis, and the sepsis itself. However, antibiotics alone can’t treat sepsis, so doctors also prescribe intravenous fluids to help the body maintain its strength and infection-fighting abilities. In very severe cases, sepsis may be treated with kidney dialysis, mechanical ventilation, corticosteroids, or central venous catheters.

It is generally considered the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, so we are on a mission to raise awareness of the risk factors and steps you can take to prevent sepsis. Together, we can make a difference for patients and their loved ones.

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