A Back to Basics Approach to Prevent Infection

Guest Author: Orlaith Staunton 

Co-Founder END SEPSIS, the Legacy of Rory Staunton

A Back to Basics Approach to Prevent Infection

It was hard to see it happen. We were watching a friend’s basketball game when the young boy fell down and began to bleed from a cut on his arm. The referee sent him out of the game and over to his coach who took out a bandage and slapped it on the wound without cleaning the cut. Calling a time-out, the coach put the boy back in the game.

My daughter and I looked at each other in disbelief.  My son, her brother, Rory, had fallen playing basketball in 2012. The gym teacher had applied a bandage without cleaning the wound. Despite us bringing him to his pediatrician and hospital when he began to feel ill, Rory died from septic shock four days later. The source of the infection that ravaged his body is believed to be from the scrape on his arm.

At the Foundation we set up in his name, END SEPSIS, the Legacy of Rory Staunton, we believe in the importance of a ‘back to basics’ approach to preventing infection (including the critical importance of the simple act of washing hands), understanding the risks and signs of sepsis, and taking responsibility for educating others about infection and sepsis by devising public health awareness campaigns.

In September 2017 the Foundation, in collaboration with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and at the request of New York State’s Departments of Health and Education, produced the nation’s first comprehensive K-12 sepsis education curriculum. Every school in the state has access to the curriculum; its lessons are designed to educate students about the importance of a ‘back to basics’ approach to preventing infection. Starting in kindergarten, the lessons progressively educate young people about wound care, hand washing and the signs and science of sepsis and infection and show students how to become public health advocated in their communities. In November 2017, Governor Cuomo signed Rory Staunton’s Law, requiring all New York schools to receive sepsis education resources, free of charge.

We believe in the need for back to basics health care in our community. We know that the simplest acts–washing hands, and cleaning even minor wounds–will prevent infection. Our goal is to ensure that every child grows up to understand the importance of these fundamental healthcare principles.

For more information, visit END SEPSIS, the Legacy of Rory Staunton.

Rory’s Mom and Co-Founder of END SEPSIS, the Legacy of Rory Staunton
Orlaith was the Executive Director of USIT, an International Student Work and Travel Program and left her job there in 1999 when Rory and later his little sister Kathleen were born. During this time she became actively involved in the family restaurant business and led committees establishing after school programs and fundraising programs at the school where Rory and Kathleen attended. Having spent several years working in the publishing industry she now writes the website blog and Facebook posts. She is a passionate and driven voice for change in the world so that everyone knows about sepsis. Orlaith wants no other family to experience the devastating loss that her family has experienced.