Resolutions advancing in both the state House and Senate aim to step up awareness about sepsis, or blood poisoning, which can touch off a life-threatening condition.
Members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health this week passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 106, which would designate September as Sepsis Awareness Month and Sept. 13 as Hawaii Sepsis Day.
House Concurrent Resolution 141, which has the same language as SCR 106, was approved by the House chamber last week.
Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to infection injures tissues and organs. Among the symptoms are fever, difficulty breathing, low blood pressure and fast heart rate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sepsis kills more than 258,000 Americans each year and is the ninth leading cause of disease-related deaths.
Former state Sen. Fred Rohlfing, whose wife, Patty, died of septic shock in late 2011, was among those who testified in support of the resolution Monday morning. Rohlfing recalled how he and his wife were bounced around hospitals before arriving at Kuakini Medical Center, where a diagnosis was made too late after the onset of the illness.
In his wife’s case, Rohlfing said, “Human error … hospital limitations (and) the steady march of infection all took their share of the toll.” He added, “It was a disease that I had never heard of before.”
In another case, sepsis killed Honolulu police officer Jacob Reed last month.
Becky Gardner, a friend of the 36-year-old officer, said, “If we were more attuned to this, if we paid more attention … and knew what sepsis was and what the symptoms are … then maybe any one of us could have intervened.”
