‘Better to be safe than sorry’ with Sepsis

A MULLAGH nurse, whose fit and healthy mother died of sepsis in a matter of hours, wants to highlight the symptoms of the illness to protect other families from the same heartbreak.
Angela Cahill from Virginia died on February 8 to the utter shock of her devastated family.
 Her daughter Catriona Flanagan said her mother had no previous illnesses and died within 24 hours. She wants people to be aware of sepsis and its symptoms.
The day before she died, Angela thought she might be getting the flu and spent the day in bed. Catriona rang on Thursday to see how she was.
“My sister said a rash had broken out on her face. She couldn’t describe it, so she sent me a picture of it. I’m a nurse, so when I saw it, I said you need to get an ambulance," recalls Catriona.
Her mother had got up, changed into clean pyjamas and, when the ambulance came, she was fixing her hair.
“She had no past history of any illnesses and she wasn’t diabetic, but when the paramedics came, they said her blood pressure was very low and she was ‘blue lighted’ to Cavan hospital."
 Angela’s husband Noel travelled in the ambulance with her and Catriona left work to go to the hospital.
“When I arrived at the hospital, there was panic. The anaesthesia team were trying to put in a cannula and her organs were starting to shut down.  “The head nurse in the ED said our mother was very sick, that she was in septic shock and maybe we should start ringing relatives.”
Catriona rang her brother who managed to see her before she became unconscious and at 3pm she was ventilated.
“They turned off the machine at 6pm that evening and she died,” Catriona recalls.
“It was so very, very rapid. It was such a shock.”
While Angela hadn’t any obvious signs of a chest infection, her family were told that the sepsis came from a pneumococcal chest infection.
“Awareness is the key and early intervention is the key.
‘Sepsis mimics flu like symptoms - you could be feeling unwell, sleeping a lot or fatigued.
“Other symptoms are a high temperature and confusion or if you haven’t passed urine in 12 hours. We really want people to be aware of sepsis.
“It doesn’t discriminate between children, adults or the elderly.
“People think it comes from a cut, but that’s not always the case.
“My mother’s case was one of the most rapid, it was literally hours, there was nothing we could have done.
“She thought herself it was just a flu, she didn’t realise how sick she was.
“If you have any concerns about someone, bring them to the Emergency Department or to their GP,” she said.
“It is better to be safe than sorry.”