Rosemary Grant is a registered nurse and helps coordinate sepsis care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The center's goal, she says, is to get a patient who might be developing sepsis antibiotics within three hours. Ian C. Bates for NPR hide caption
Kristopher Kelly near his home in Concrete, Wash., in February. He broke his pelvis and all his ribs in a work accident last year. The resulting infection he developed in the hospital almost killed him. Ian C. Bates for NPR hide caption
A 4-year-old regulation in New York state requires doctors and hospitals to treat sepsis using a protocol that some researchers now question. Getty Images/iStockphoto hide caption
A well-regarded intensive care doctor in Virginia says he has had good success in treating 150 sepsis patients with a mix of IV corticosteroids, vitamin C and vitamin B, along with careful management of fluids. Other doctors want more proof — the sort that comes only via more rigorous tests. Sukiyashi/Getty Images/iStockphoto hide caption
Of the million or so Americans a year who get sepsis, roughly 300,000 die. Unfortunately, many treatments for the condition have looked promising in small, preliminary studies, only to fail in follow-up research. Reptile8488/Getty Images/iStockphoto hide caption
Four days after Rory Staunton cut himself in gym class, he died from septic shock. Courtesy of Rory Staunton Foundation hide caption
Bob Skierski at the beach in Avalon, N.J., just hours before he fell ill and went to the hospital. He never went home. Courtesy of Jennifer Rodgers hide caption