Identification of adult septic patients in the prehospital setting: a comparison of two screening tools and clinical judgment.

Background: Timely identification and treatment of sepsis is crucial for patient outcome. The aim of this study was to compare two previously unvalidated prehospital sepsis screening tools with clinical judgment by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel with respect to identification of septic patients.

Patients And Methods: We carried out a retrospective cross-sectional study of 353 adult patients, transported by the EMS, with a hospital discharge International Classification of Diseases code consistent with sepsis.