“Emergency Care in Sepsis Patients”

Supervisor:

• prof.dr. C.D.A. Stehouwer

Co-supervisor:

• dr. P.M. Stassen

Patients who are suspected of having sepsis (blood poisoning) are twice as likely to survive when diagnosed in the ambulance compared to patients diagnosed in the emergency room. Ambulance personnel can accurately diagnose sepsis in 60% of affected patients. This figure, however, can be increased to 80% if ambulance personnel receive additional training and if ambulances are equipped with better diagnostic techniques. The study also explains specific criteria that can help emergency rooms improve their sepsis diagnoses. This is the first Dutch dissertation written as part of the new medical discipline Acute Internal Medicine.