On April 25 and 26, 2023, World Sepsis Congress will return – and registrations are now open.

Over the course of two days and 16 highly-relevant and unique sessions, over 80 internationally-renowned speakers will share the newest research and insights into sepsis, pandemics, antimicrobial resistance, and – most importantly – how they are linked.

As always, the 4th WSC will be free of charge and completely virtual, enabling broad participation from all parts of the world.

Just as with our previous World Sepsis Congresses and WSC Spotlights, this free online congress brings together highly ranked representatives of international and national healthcare authorities, non-governmental organizations, policymakers, patient advocacy groups, clinical scientists, researchers, and pioneers in healthcare improvement.

From the whole Team here at the Global Sepsis Alliance, we’d like to wish you a happy new year – much happiness, success, and – above all – health to you and your loved ones in 2023. It can only get better, right?

We are happy to announce that we have already updated all our toolkits for 2023, from the event material to the infographics, fact sheets, posters, and everything in between. If you haven’t checked them out in some time, take a look, there’s a ton there, and we are adding more materials and languages constantly.

Did you know that some of our resources – like our Pocket Cards or the Life After Sepsis Brochure – are available to order as professionally-printed versions via our WSD Online Shop, with international shipping available?

We are looking forward to 2023 being another amazing year for sepsis awareness around the world – jointly with you and your support. We have a couple of exciting projects in the pipeline, and can’t wait to share them with you, starting with more info on the 4th World Sepsis Congress soon…

Last but in no way least, we are incredibly thankful for your continued support, we really couldn’t do it without you.

Can you believe the year is almost over again? Feels like we have just been here...in any case, thank you from our entire team for supporting the Global Sepsis Alliance, World Sepsis Day, and the global fight against sepsis throughout the year – your support means the world to us. Another year shaped by a global pandemic, but with light at the end of the tunnel...and also a successful year for sepsis awareness around the world. Below, we have summarized our 2022 for you, and look ahead to 2023.

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A Look Back on 2022

January / February / March

The year started out with updated toolkits for 2022, as almost every year does. We also announced the “WSC Spotlight: Novel Therapeutic and Diagnostic Approaches for COVID-19 and Sepsis” for April 2022 and shared the new video series on sepsis by our colleagues and friends from Australia. In March, we joined the call for peace in Ukraine, especially focused on healthcare workers and civilians – most people grossly underestimate the toll infections and sepsis have in humanitarian and health emergencies. Later that month, the GSA officially supported the IMC White Paper, which proposes a holistic infection management roadmap integrating AMR and sepsis.

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April

In April, all eyes turned to the 2022 WSC Spotlight. Over the course of 8 distinctive and highly relevant sessions, 39 speakers from all regions of the world spoke on the newest therapeutic and diagnostic approaches for COVID-19 and sepsis, covering all novel aspects of our understanding of bacterial and viral sepsis, from new methods of diagnosis and risk assessment to novel treatment modalities, and beyond.

The congress was held entirely online and participation was free of charge – the talks are still available on YouTube and as a podcast on Apple Podcasts - just search for ‘World Sepsis Congress’ in your favorite podcast player. Maybe you’ll have the time to catch up on a talk or two during the holidays…

The congress was a big success – more than 10,000 people from 176 countries signed up to participate, 65% from low- and middle-income countries. The full report is available here.

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May

May was kicked off by World Hand Hygiene Day on May 5 – clean healthcare is among the most urgent challenges identified by the United Nations to be addressed by the global community in the next 10 years and is highly relevant in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as fighting infections, sepsis, and, most prominently in the last two years, COVID-19.

Later in May, we shared Tereza’s sepsis story, who went from fit to sepsis and back again.

The month concluded with a direction-setting announcement by the G7 Health Ministers, who committed to boosting the implementation of the WHA 70.7 Resolution on Sepsis in their communiqué. The G7 Health Ministers also made a clear link from successful sepsis treatment to antimicrobial resistance, a connection we explored in our 2020 joint WSC Spotlight with the WHO, and which will be a large topic at our 4th World Sepsis Congress in April 2023 as well.

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June / July / August

In June, we shared fresh resources, inspiration, and ideas for hosting your perfect WSD Event, as well as the “Action on Sepsis Podcast”, which tells the whole journey of sepsis from the perspective of the patient – really worth a listen.

In July, Australia launched a groundbreaking national sepsis clinical care standard, and we published the aforementioned 2022 WSC Spotlight Report, sharing detailed statistics and numbers from our congress.

In August, gearing up for #WorldSepsisDay, we announced both our #10YearsWSD Event for September – a hybrid event organized jointly with the Sepsis Stiftung – as well as the 5th Annual Meeting of the European Sepsis Alliance. Later in August, the new interactive World Map and Photo Booth went live, and the GSA member organizations elected a new GSA Board and Executive Committee.

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September

Hurray, finally September, once again World Sepsis Day. Hundreds of events all over the world took place to raise awareness for sepsis – thank you all for stepping up. The 2022 WSD Event Poster summarizes these events, and you can order printed copies for free. Switzerland made good use of the occasion and announced their Swiss National Action Plan – congratulations.

On September 16, shortly after WSD, it was time to gather in Berlin, Germany, for our #10YearsWSD event at the beautiful Wannsee. It was amazing to see so many of you there after such a long time and have time to chat, catch up, and listen to amazing presentations and speakers. Thanks to everyone who joined the live stream as well, and all talks are available on YouTube or the event website to recap.

Following closely on the heels of WSD on September 13, World Patient Safety Day on September 17 once again put sepsis in the spotlight, as healthcare-acquired infections represent around 20% of sepsis cases.

The following week, we got together in Brussels for the 5th Annual Meeting of the European Sepsis Alliance – you can watch the recording of the event here, including the intervention of Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety.

Closing out September were the Winners of the 2021 GSA Awards – namely Karl Lauterbach, the Houston Methodist Hospital, Victorien Dougnon, and Matthew Wiens.

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October / November / December

In October, we joined forces with our colleagues from the World Health Summit to design a workshop on ‘Addressing Sepsis on the Global and National Level’ – you can watch it here. We also added Dr. Emmanuel Nsutebu’s breathtaking book ‘From Struggles to Success’ to our online shop.

In November, we encouraged you to participate in Movember, raising awareness for men’s health, especially focused on mental health, suicide prevention, as well as prostate and testicular cancer. Later in the month, we celebrated World Prematurity Day 2022 and #GivingTuesday.

In December, we finally completed the 2022 WSD Event Poster and issued a save the date for our upcoming 4th World Sepsis Congress in April 2023.

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Looking Ahead to 2023

In 2023, we will keep on tirelessly advocating for sepsis to be prioritized as the major global health threat that it is, and many of the milestones of 2022 lay the foundation for our work in 2023. For this purpose, we are also planning to expand our team…

We are currently hard at work on the ‘4th World Sepsis Congress – One Global Health Threat: Sepsis, Pandemics, and Antimicrobial Resistance’, to be held on April 25 and 26, 2023 – save the date, registration will open in late January or early February.

You can also expect the 2022 GSA Awards, and, as every year, we will translate more material into more languages. We are hoping to meet with some of you face to face at our WSD Supporter Meetings, and are also planning a couple of events with our Regional Sepsis Alliances.

And of course and as every year, our efforts will cumulate on World Sepsis Day on September 13 – hopefully with you and your participation. Stay safe and have a great start in 2023.

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Download The Poster

The 2022 WSD Event Poster is finally here, summarizing hundreds of activities and events that took place for this year’s World Sepsis Day to raise awareness for sepsis worldwide. You can download it below to share online or print it yourself.

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Order Printed Copies

For the next 4 weeks, until January 17, 2023, you can order free printed copies of the 2022 WSD Event Poster via our shop – shipped free of charge to your home or office, as a token of appreciation for your support of World Sepsis Day. Please use the discount code ‘2022POSTER’ to get free shipping. Take advantage of the offer by adding anything from our online shop (like t-shirts, hoodies, stickers, lanyards, and more). Free shipping is valid as long as you order at least one poster and use the discount code. Both offers expire on January 17. If you need an item from our shop urgently, please note that orders which include a poster will be shipped in the second half of January, once the posters have been printed. Lastly, please understand that free copies of the poster are limited to 3 copies per institution. Please think about the environment before placing your order. Speaking about the environment, the posters are of course printed on certified sustainable paper.

2022 WSD Event Poster

€12.00

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Report Mistakes / Add Events

Putting together the poster is an enormous task every year – if you find any mistakes, please let us know. We will fix them and re-upload a corrected version. Also, due to the current situation worldwide, a couple of events had to be canceled or postponed. If your event took place later or online or is missing for any other reason, please contact us – it’s not too late to add it.

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Donate to Support World Sepsis Day

This year more than ever, donating to the causes close to your heart remains vital. We’d be honored to put your donation to the global fight against sepsis to good use.

On April 25 and 26, 2023, the Global Sepsis Alliance will host the 4th World Sepsis Congress, titled “One Global Health Threat: Sepsis, Pandemics, and Antimicrobial Resistance”. As always, the 4th WSC will be free of charge and completely virtual, enabling broad participation from all parts of the world.

Over the course of two days and 15 distinctive and highly relevant sessions, over 80 internationally-renowned speakers will share the newest research and insights into sepsis, pandemics, antimicrobial resistance, and – most importantly – how they are linked.

Just as with our previous World Sepsis Congresses in 2016, 2018, and 2021, and WSC Spotlights in 2017, 2020, and 2022, this free online congress brings together highly ranked representatives of international and national healthcare authorities, non-governmental organizations, policymakers, patients, patient advocacy groups, clinical scientists, researchers, and pioneers in healthcare improvement.

We will share more details on the program, speakers, and exact times in 2023 – stay tuned.

Today marks #GivingTuesday – after the shopping mania and crazy discounts of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the idea is to give back to society and support a good cause this Tuesday and beyond.

But wait a minute, why not combine shopping and savings while supporting a good cause at the same time? You can now – save 13 % on everything in our WSD Online Shop with the discount code ‘FEELSGOODTOGIVE’, valid until Sunday, December 18 23:59 CET.

This is the perfect time to stock up on #WorldSepsisDay swag – can you really ever have enough stickers, pens, or balloons?

We are also accepting plain old donations, of course…

P.S.: You can also help by signing the World Sepsis Declaration, sending our video explaining sepsis to a friend, or by downloading and disseminating our resources raising awareness for sepsis.

We are looking for a

Team Assistant

to become our fifth team member. You will be working part-time (20h a week) at the World Sepsis Day Head Office at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, Germany, and remotely.

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About Us

The Global Sepsis Alliance is a non-profit charity organization with the mission to provide global leadership to reduce the worldwide burden of sepsis. The GSA is the initiator of World Sepsis Day on September 13 and World Sepsis Congress, a series of free online congresses bringing knowledge about sepsis to all parts of the world, among other initiatives.

The GSA works closely with its over 100 member organizations, patient advocacy groups, professional societies, healthcare authorities, and governments to implement changes on how sepsis is prioritized, diagnosed, and treated all around the world, as laid out in the WHO Resolution on Sepsis.

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Tasks

• You assist the team as needs arise – drafting documents, scheduling meetings, making travel arrangements, bank transfers, and more

• You support individual projects and preparatory accounting

• You organize team events and think about new formats and concepts

• You are an active contributor to the team and make sure the team members find the

  best conditions to thrive

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Requirements

• You are a true organizational talent, proactive, and a person you can always rely on

• You have everything in view and keep a cool head even in stressful situations

• You can familiarize yourself with new tasks quickly and easily

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English (German helpful, but not mandatory)

• You like to work independently and don’t need constant instructions ‘from above’, but think proactively

• Experience in the field of office management, project management, in the event, hotel, or restaurant industry, or as an assistant is an advantage, but not a must. It is more important to us that you bring the right attitude and that you are an organized and positive person.

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We Offer

• A diversified, exciting challenge in a growing and purpose-driven organization

• Opportunity to help shape sustainable structures in this young non-profit organization with flat hierarchies

• Opportunity to involve yourself in global projects, possibility to increase hours or to be promoted to project manager in the future

• Modern IT infrastructure and the possibility to work from home

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If you can identify yourself with the above requirements, we look forward to receiving your application via the GSA website. We ensure absolute discretion.

We select candidates exclusively on the basis of their skills and qualifications. Should you nevertheless wish to apply anonymously – without your given name, picture, or gender – please feel free to expressively mention it in your candidature, omit your name and photo, and use an alias email address. Please make sure we have a proper way to contact you.

It is time to treat fluids as drugs

The International Fluid Academy Day – #IFAD2022 – is back in Brussels, Belgium on November 26, 2022.

The past 2.5 years have been challenging for all healthcare professionals. When conferences and meetings were moved online, it became apparent that the human contact of speaking to friends and colleagues face-to-face can never be replicated on any online platform.

With this in mind, and true to IFA’s spirit of innovation, this year’s event will be unlike any of the previous years. We will cover, discuss, dissect and collaborate on sepsis and all things fluids focused on the 4 phases of fluid management, hemodynamic monitoring, and the concept of fluid stewardship. A neglected topic for way too long, the interest in fluid therapy seems to be quickly rising as the medical community is making a shift from looking at fluids as a mere method of stabilization towards the appreciation of its relevant side effects.

Uniquely, lectern-based lectures will be limited. Instead, there will be panel discussions where all colleagues can ask questions and as well as examine in detail clinical practice and research findings.

Come join us in the IFAD lounge and share your thoughts, views, and opinions. We look forward to seeing you.

We will build again a repository with video lectures. Access to these lectures will remain available for premium delegates (3 months in Whova - 6 months via tablet or smartphone - 12 months via embedded agenda).

We are pleased to announce that this year's IFAD will be organized together with the 9th Emergency Medicine Symposium (BEMS), at the Erasmus Campus - Building W in Brussels (1070). This year's SympoMed theme is EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OF SEPSIS AND RESPIRATORY DISTRESS. This congress will be held in English, French, and Dutch. The English track is dedicated to the IFAD.
We look forward to seeing you in Brussels on November 26 or virtually via the Repository App! The IFAD/BEMS meeting will be held in English, Dutch and French.

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Discount Codes and Registration

To register for onsite participation, please use the code BEMSIFAD35 for a 35% discount.

To participate in the live stream, use code ifad22gsa35 for a 35% discount, or code ifad22gsa100 to enter the daily free ticket raffle.

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Objectives

After participation in the 12th IFAD, delegates will learn the following:

• Fluids should be considered drugs that come with indications, contraindications, and potential adverse effects, they have a dose, rate, timing, etc…

• The 4 D’s of fluid therapy are important: Drug – Dose – Duration and De-escalation

• The 4 questions that need to be answered regarding fluid therapy: when to start fluids – when to stop fluids – when to start fluid removal – when to stop fluid removal

• The 4 phases of fluid therapy according to the ROSE concept: Resuscitation – Organ support – Stabilization – Evacuation

• The 4 indications for fluid therapy: Resuscitation – Maintenance – Replacement – Metabolic (nutrition)

• Different fluid types: Colloids (starches vs gelatins) vs Crystalloids vs Albumin vs Blood products and when to give and when not to give them

• Dangers of fluid overload/accumulation and its impact on organ function, morbidity, and mortality

• Fluid stewardship: how to implement

• Acid-base disturbances, the Stewart approach, and the strong ion difference

• Balanced vs unbalanced solutions

• Organ function monitoring in sepsis (cardiac output and beyond)

• Triggers, markers, and endpoints of successful resuscitation

• Fluids in specific populations: obese, heart failure, pediatrics, trauma, neurologic,

• Overview of the recent major trials in critical care: SPLIT, SALT, SMART, BASICS, PLUS

• Dangers of underfilling, hypovolemia, and hypoperfusion