The Surviving Sepsis Campaign: past, present and future.

The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) was created in 2002 and consists of severe sepsis management guidelines and a sepsis performance improvement program. The second revision of the guidelines, published in 2013, are sponsored by 30 international scientific organizations and contain changes in recommendations for fluids and vasopressor administration. The new 3- and 6-hour sepsis 'bundles' (sets of care elements) include a software program that can be downloaded free from the Surviving Sepsis Campaign website (www.survivingsepsis.org). The traditional intensive care unit and emergency department champion-driven sepsis performance improvement program continues internationally with the kick off of a new grant-funded hospital floor sepsis performance improvement initiative.