PRINTER'S NO. 1211

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE RESOLUTION

No.

223

Session of

2019

INTRODUCED BY KILLION, AUMENT, BAKER, BARTOLOTTA, BLAKE,

BREWSTER, BROWNE, COLLETT, COSTA, DINNIMAN, FONTANA, HUGHES,

IOVINO, MARTIN, MASTRIANO, MENSCH, PHILLIPS-HILL,

WHEREAS, Sepsis is the body's overwhelming response to

infection that can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and

death; and

WHEREAS, More than 1.7 million people are diagnosed with

sepsis in the United States each year; and

WHEREAS, Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death in the

United States and takes more lives than opioid overdoses, breast

cancer and prostate cancer combined; and

WHEREAS, Sepsis claims more than 270,000 lives annually; and

WHEREAS, Approximately 40% of patients diagnosed with severe

WHEREAS, Health care professionals and advocates consider

this disease to be an epidemic, with one individual diagnosed

with sepsis every 20 seconds; and

WHEREAS, Sepsis hospitalizations in the United States cost

more than $27 billion each year; and

WHEREAS, Health care professionals are combating sepsis

through early detection, best practices, new initiatives,

comprehensive education and defined data and analytics; and

WHEREAS, Early detection and prompt treatment offer the best

chances for reducing deaths and improving recovery for

sepsis by spreading the word around the globe; and

WHEREAS, In 2016, the Department of Health, with support from

the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP),

held the first sepsis conference; and

WHEREAS, In 2017 and 2018, HAP brought together more than 200

health care leaders from across this Commonwealth, as well as a

number of sepsis experts for successful conferences each year;

and

WHEREAS, Continuing that success, HAP is again taking the

lead to plan this year's conference for September 23, 2019,

the signs and symptoms of sepsis; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the Senate designate the month of September

2019 as "Sepsis Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.