Ambient Temperature and Sepsis
in the Emergency Department
Research indicates a significant correlation between high ambient temperatures and increased health issues. Notably, elevated temperatures are linked to a rise in nosocomial bloodstream infections, as well as an uptick in emergency department visits for acute kidney injury (
Ambient Temperature and Sepsis
in the Emergency Department
Understanding the
effects of
ambient temperature
Ambient temperature not changing
overall ED volume
Tai, C. C., Lee, C. C., Shih, C. L., & Chen, S. C. (2007). Effects of ambient temperature on volume, specialty composition and triage levels of emergency department visits. Emergency medicine journal : EMJ, 24(9), 641–644. https://doi.org/10.1136/emj.2006.045310
Ambient temperatures related to
increase mental health ED visits
Nori-Sarma A, Sun S, Sun Y, et al. Association Between Ambient Heat and Risk of Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health Among US Adults, 2010 to 2019. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022;79(4):341–349. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.4369
High ambient temperatures
associated with more dog bites
Zhang, Y., Zhao, Q., Zhang, W., Li, S., Chen, G., Han, Z., & Guo, Y. (2017). Are Hospital Emergency Department visits due to dog bites associated with ambient temperature? A Time-series study in Beijing, China. Science of The Total Environment, 598, 71–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.112
More bloodstream infections
when it is hot outside
Schwab, F., Gastmeier, P., Hoffmann, P., & Meyer, E. (2020). Summer, Sun and sepsis—the influence of outside temperature on nosocomial bloodstream infections: A cohort study and review of the literature. PLOS ONE, 15(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234656
High ambient temperatures
increase visits for AKI
Kim, S. E., Lee, H., Kim, J., Lee, Y. K., Kang, M., Hijioka, Y., & Kim, H. (2019). Temperature as a risk factor of emergency department visits for acute kidney injury: a case-crossover study in Seoul, South Korea. Environmental health : a global access science source, 18(1), 55. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-019-0491-5
High ambient temperatures
increase hospital admission
Basu, R., Pearson, D., Malig, B., Broadwin, R., & Green, R. (2012). The Effect of High Ambient Temperature on Emergency Room Visits. Epidemiology, 23(6), 813–820. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41739678
Understanding
Sepsis
Early goal directed therapy
(fluids given aggressiveley
and quickly)
Rivers, E., Nguyen, B., Havstad, S., Ressler, J., Muzzin, A., Knoblich, B., Peterson, E., & Tomlanovich, M. (2001). Early goal-directed therapy in the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock. New England Journal of Medicine, 345(19), 1368–1377. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa010307
Surviving Sepsis campaign
most recent updates
Evans, L., Rhodes, A., Alhazzani, W., Antonelli, M., Coopersmith, C. M., French, C., Machado, F. R., Mcintyre, L., Ostermann, M., Prescott, H. C., Schorr, C., Simpson, S., Wiersinga, W. J., Alshamsi, F., Angus, D. C., Arabi, Y., Azevedo, L., Beale, R., Beilman, G., … Levy, M. (2021). Surviving sepsis campaign: International guidelines for management of sepsis and septic shock 2021. Critical Care Medicine, 49(11). https://doi.org/10.1097/ccm.0000000000005337
Definitions created
for SIRS
Bone, R. C., Balk, R. A., Cerra, F. B., Dellinger, R. P., Fein, A. M., Knaus, W. A., Schein, R. M. H., & Sibbald, W. J. (1992). Definitions for sepsis and organ failure and guidelines for the use of innovative therapies in sepsis. Chest, 101(6), 1644–1655. https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.101.6.1644