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Sepsis & infection

EMS sepsis suspicion speeds up ED antibiotics

Prehospital recognition of sepsis is associated with earlier antibiotic administration in the emergency department : A retrospective cohort study
Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift · 2026-10-13 · Added 15 October 2026

Single-centre Austrian cohort of 134 ED sepsis admissions found EMS documentation of sepsis suspicion was linked to antibiotics within 1 hour in 63.3% vs 19.2% of patients (aOR 5.77) and a median time-to-antibiotics of 32 vs 124.5 minutes.

Study type

Cohort

Design

Retrospective single-centre observational cohort

Participants

134 adults with ED-diagnosed sepsis

Main finding

EMS-suspected sepsis: 63.3% antibiotics within 1 h of ED arrival vs 19.2% (aOR 5.77, 95% CI 2.14–16.4); median time to antibiotics 32.0 vs 124.5 min

Caveat

Prehospital recognition was just the word 'sepsis' documented in the EMS record — likely captures the most obvious, sickest cases

Bottom line

Hypothesis-generating

Learning goal

Recognise prehospital indicators of sepsis that reliably trigger early escalation and expedite antibiotic care.

More

• Topic: Sepsis & infection
• Daily scan: 15 October 2026
• Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 15 October 2026

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