Validation of Early Warning Score & Lactate in Prehospital Screening

Sepsis claims over 37,000 lives in the United Kingdom each year- more than lung cancer, and more than breast cancer, bowel cancer and HIV/AIDS combined. Less than two-thirds of patients who develop sepsis will survive. Sepsis can affect a person of any age, social background, and can strike irrespective of underlying medical conditions. An important element in improving the care of patient with sepsis is early identification and early intervention, both of which have been shown to improve outcomes. Physiological deterioration often precedes clinical deterioration as patients develop critical illness. Recognition of this has led to the development of Early Warning Score (EWS) systems which allow earlier identification of physiological deterioration. By assigning numerical values to various physiological parameters, a composite score can be assigned to a patient, allowing early identification of patients who are at risk of critical illness. EWS were initially developed to assist in the management of patients in the general ward setting. A recent study has shown that an increased EWS on arrival at the Emergency Department (ED) is associated with higher odds of adverse outcome amongst patients with sepsis. Consequently, the use of EWS could facilitate patient pathways to ensure triage to a high acuity area of the ED and senior clinician involvement at an early stage. The use of a standard single National EWS (NEWS) across the National Health Service in the United Kingdom has been recommended to improve patient care. NEWS also lends itself to extension to pre-hospital care and ambulance services. Most ambulance services routinely collect the physiological data required to calculate a NEWS score and indeed some ambulance services have incorporated this into electronic patient record forms (ePRF). An agreed NEWS score of greater than a specific level could be used as a trigger for ambulance service pre-alert of a receiving ED. Point of care measurement of lactate has a