September 13 – World Sepsis Day

Thanks for participating in World Sepsis Day. Please submit your event to be featured on the 2020 WSD Event Poster now:

Below, we have collected some ideas, inspiration, and resources for you to host the perfect World Sepsis Day event on September 13th.

Due to COVID-19, this year’s WSD will be a little different – nobody knows how the situation will be on September 13th. Please consider moving your events online, if you can. If you are planning physical events, please adhere to the restrictions and recommendations of your respective health authority. However, this can also be reframed as an opportunity - this WSD can be used to educate even more people on sepsis, which is the most common pathway to death from most infectious diseases worldwide, including SARS-CoV-2, malaria, ebola, and more.

Lots of materials for your events are available in our toolkit section - including our new sepsis fact sheet, sepsis awareness clips, infographics, pocket cards, posters, wallpapers, banners, stickers, folders, the WSD flyer, presentation templates, pink picnic material, and more.

Online Events / Social Media

• Embed the "What Is Sepsis? - sepsis explained in 3 minutes"-video on your website and/or share it on social media (English / Spanish / Portuguese / French / Italian / Turkish / German / Russian)

• Share one (or more) WSD Infographic on your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram page or story, or put up a post mentioning @WorldSepsisDay

• Share our Sepsis Awareness Clips on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, on your website, or wherever else you’d like. They can also be used at physical events

• Tweet about or at World Sepsis Day, using the hashtag #WorldSepsisDay, #StopSepsis, or #SaveLives

• Add a WSD Frame to your profile picture on Facebook - go to your Facebook profile, click on your profile picture, click on add frame, and search for World Sepsis Day

• Add a pink banner or a button to your website or set up a landing page informing your visitors about WSD

• Participate in the photo challenge - see below

• Add ‘September 13 is World Sepsis Day – Stop Sepsis, Save Lives’ to your email signature

• Organize a Twitter chat, a webinar, a Reddit AMA, a Facebook Live, or a Periscope

• Share the link to our toolkit section (worldsepsisday.org/toolkits) with your colleagues or friends, encouraging them to join the online campaign

Sign the World Sepsis Declaration

The easiest way to show your support for World Sepsis Day is to sign the World Sepsis Declaration - think of it like a petition against sepsis. So far, more than 11,000 entities (hospitals, healthcare workers, non-profit organizations, corporations, and individuals) have signed the declaration.

Events for Medical Professionals

• Set up sepsis awareness stalls with sepsis quizzes and sepsis information in the entrance area of your institution/hospital

• Offer special educational sepsis trainings for staff around World Sepsis Day

• Share our Sepsis Awareness Clips on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, on your website, or wherever else you’d like. They can also be used at physical events.

• Participate in the photo challenge - see below

• Organize conferences, symposia, round-table discussions, etc.

• Host a pink picnic - see below

• Change the wallpaper of the computers within your institution to one of our WSD Wallpapers (available in the toolkit section)

• Show the "What Is Sepsis? - sepsis explained in 3 minutes"-video at your event or embed it on your organizations website (English / Spanish / Portuguese / French / Italian / Turkish / German / Russian)

WSD Photo Challenge

Public Events

• Hand out WSD material (such as WSD Infographics, Pocket Cards, the WSD Flyer, or information leaflets) in busy public spaces like town squares, markets, railway or bus stations, and more

• Set up small sepsis information stalls, use banners or balloons, give out (pink) candy or small giveaways

• Show the "What Is Sepsis? - sepsis explained in 3 minutes"-video at your event (English / Spanish / Portuguese / French / Italian / Turkish / German / Russian)

• Encourage people to participate in the photo challenge - see above

• Plan sport events - they a great opportunity for people to watch or participate, even spontaneously - organize a sport event like a city marathon, a bicycle tour, a volleyball tournament, a sepsis 5k or team run, a Zumba event, or another sport activity - the possibilities are endless. Hand out information leaflets along the way. Use pink bibs or t-shirts to attract attention, and plan the route so lots of people see you, for example through a town square, or similar.

• Organize a family afternoon, together with sepsis survivors, if possible. Set up stalls and decorate the area to attract people. Think about having some music or performers and something fun for the kids like face-painting or sepsis-related handicraft work.

• Organize a gala event or a special dinner - WSD is a glamorous opportunity to raise awareness for sepsis in your network, including for fundraising. For example, check out the Sepsis Heroes Gala Event by the Sepsis Alliance.

Pink Picnics

• Set up a pink picnic. Pink Picnics are social events where pink is used to signify the relation to World Sepsis Day. You can include pink salads or cupcakes, BBQ’s, treats, beverages, plates, other table decor...and whatever you can think of! Use pink balloons for decoration. Both pink picnic as well as event material is available in our toolkit section.

In Your Company / Institution

• Color your cafeteria/canteen pink, by using infographics, stickers, pocket cards, balloons, flyers, and whatever else you can think of

• Bake for your colleagues – why not raise awareness for sepsis among your colleagues by making muffins with pink frosting, or a pink cake? They will certainly talk about you and World Sepsis Day…make sure to also share leaflets, infographics, stickers, and other goodies with them as well

• Share our Sepsis Awareness Clips with your colleagues or upload them to your organizations social media accounts

• Show the "What Is Sepsis? - sepsis explained in 3 minutes" - video to your colleagues (English / Spanish / Portuguese / French / Italian / Turkish / German / Russian)

• Change the wallpaper of the computers within your institution to one of our WSD Wallpapers (available in our toolkit section)

• Encourage your colleagues to participate in the photo challenge - see above

Illuminate a Building

• I mean, why not? Sure looks impressive.

Bonus Tip: Take Over a Sport Event…

• Like a soccer match (if there are matches in September…)

Promotional Material for World Sepsis Day 2020

Please go to our toolkit section - you will find everything you are looking for, and more. If there is something missing, or you have ideas for additional material, please contact us.

Media Coverage

Use your network and the network of your colleagues, friends, members, or supporters to see if there is a chance to have your event covered professionally. Informing your local media about your event as early as possible increases the likelihood of them covering your event dramatically. In any case, make sure to take lots of pictures. A press release and a template for a press release is available here.

World Sepsis Day Event Poster

Like in the past years, the World Sepsis Day HQ will collect pictures from your events and create the 2020 World Sepsis Day Event Poster, so please make sure to take great and high-resolution pictures of your activities. On September 14th, we will have a form on our website for you to upload your events and pictures.

Why Is World Sepsis Day Important?

World Sepsis Day is held on September 13th every year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against sepsis. Sepsis accounts for at least 11 million deaths worldwide annually. Yet, depending on country and education, sepsis is known only to 7 – 50% of the people. Likewise, it is poorly known that sepsis can be prevented by vaccination and clean care and that early recognition and treatment reduces sepsis mortality by 50%. This lack of knowledge makes sepsis the number one preventable cause of death worldwide.

Why Should You Participate in World Sepsis Day

World Sepsis Day is the favorable moment to increase public awareness for this poorly acknowledged healthcare disaster, but also to show support and solidarity with the millions of people who lost their loved ones, or, as sepsis survivors, suffer from the long-term consequences of sepsis. World Sepsis Day is a great opportunity to remind the public, media, national, and international healthcare authorities, healthcare providers, and healthcare workers, policy makers, and the governments that there is an urgent need to increase and improve education on the facility, regional, national, and international level. The easiest way to support World Sepsis Day: Share the link for signing the World Sepsis Declaration with your colleagues, families, friends, and everyone that should be informed about sepsis.

We wish you good luck in preparing your World Sepsis Day event and thank you for your valuable contribution in the fight against sepsis!

If you couldn't find what you were looking for, please contact us.