Project Presentation – How the '6th Annual Jeff Davis Sepsis Challenge 5K' Is Raising Awareness in the United States
In June, we announced the winners of the 2019 Global Sepsis Awards. In addition to the five winners, nine other entities were commended for their valuable contribution in the global fight against sepsis.
Over the coming months, we will give both the 2019 GSA Award Winners as well as the activities and initiatives by the entities that were commended the possibility to share their projects and initiatives in more detail on our websites, and after our colleagues from Italy in June and the project “Stop Sepsis in Croatia” in July, we would like to introduce you the ‘6th Annual Jeff Davis Sepsis Challenge 5K’ today.
The 6th Annual Jeff Davis Sepsis Challenge 5K
The 6th Annual Jeff Davis Sepsis Challenge 5K was held on June 29th, 2019 at Garfield Park in Indianapolis, Indiana. This was after 4 successful years in Colorado and 1 successful year in Illinois. The 5K had about 60 participants and raised about $2700 for Sepsis Alliance. We shared Jeff’s story, Josslyn’s story, and Jonathin’s story. Josslyn’s family worked tirelessly to recently pass mandatory sepsis protocols, “Josslyn’s Law”, in the state of Indiana. They went into effect July 1. All together Lisa Bartlett has raised about $25,000 for Sepsis Alliance and was named a 2016 Sepsis Hero.
Lisa was recently on News 6 in Indianapolis and on the radio at HI-99 in Terre Haute, Indiana. She is still pursuing “Jeff’s Law” and has now focused her efforts in the state of Missouri. Jill Kogan Blake, 2018 Sepsis Hero, put 4 billboards up of Jeff in the San Francisco Bay Area. These are posted with a quiz teaching the public how much they really know about sepsis. Lisa put one billboard up in Southern Indiana, and one up by Ft. Campbell Army post in Tennessee. Jeff was a veteran.
As soon as the years 5K is over, she starts planning the next one. She is also an Advisory board member for Sepsis Alliance. Lisa will continue to work raising sepsis awareness around the globe until everybody in the US knows about sepsis.
Most recently, Lisa has started a petition to establish mandatory sepsis protocols in all healthcare facilities and declare September National Sepsis Awareness Month, for which she needs 100,000 signatures by October 27th.
The Global Sepsis Awards, which are sponsored by the Erin Kay Flatley Memorial Foundation, honor outstanding efforts to increase sepsis awareness and raise the quality of sepsis prevention and management.
The awards are granted in three categories, namely governments and healthcare authorities, non-governmental organizations, patient advocate or healthcare provider groups, and individuals, consistent with the aims of the World Sepsis Declaration and the World Sepsis Day Movement.
Winners in category II and III will receive $2,500 prize money each. Applications and nominations for the 2020 GSA Awards open in January 2020 and close on March 31st, 2020.