Sepsis Alliance Connect

Sepsis Alliance Connect is a virtual support community designed for the millions of people affected by sepsis. Each year, an estimated 1.4 million people survive sepsis and over 350,000 adults die from sepsis in the United States alone. Sepsis Alliance Connect is a place for these survivors, caregivers, loved ones, and those left behind after a sepsis death to come together and share resources, insight, and encouragement about their sepsis experience and life after sepsis.

The main goal of Sepsis Alliance Connect is to connect those who have been impacted by this often isolating and frequently misunderstood condition. Members can take part in live and pre-recorded programs exploring topics such as:

• Coping with life after sepsis
• Managing mental health
• Adjusting to life after amputations

Sepsis Alliance Connect was launched by Sepsis Alliance in 2022 with the support of volunteer community leaders passionate about positively impacting the lives of those affected by sepsis.

• Peer Support Conversations
  These conversations, scheduled at various times throughout each month, are facilitated by volunteers who are sepsis survivors, caregivers of sepsis survivors, and people who have lost a loved one to sepsis.
• EMDR Therapy- How Do We Treat Trauma? June 21, 2023
  Lee Oesterle, Licensed Clinical Social Worker;
  Hilary Bridges, Licensed Professional Counselor;
  Don Smith, Sepsis Survivor
  Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a mental health treatment method which involves moving your eyes in specific ways while you recall traumatic memories. Learn how this type of therapy differs from others like cognitive-behavioral therapy and how it can be effective for those who have experienced trauma (including medical trauma). Two practitioners will be joined by a sepsis survivor who has experienced EMDR therapy as part of his own sepsis recovery.
• Balanced Sepsis Amputee Community, May 22 and June 26. 2023
  Leslie Green, Founder: Balance Amputee Education and Wellness
  Leslie Green is a sepsis survivor and bilateral, below-the-knee amputee who has many years of experience working alongside people with limb loss and limb difference. Balance Amputee Education and Wellness’s communities provide education, to various groups of people who have experienced amputations due to sepsis and other factors. This Sepsis Alliance Connect and Balance Amputee Education and Wellness collaborative session will connect members of these communities to share resources and discuss topics related to amputations due to sepsis.

Browse a library of recorded programs you can watch any time, which will grow as new programs are added. As soon as you log in, you’ll find a program library which includes:

• Common Treatments for Sepsis, Marijke Vroomen Durning, RN, Senior Clinical Content Advisor, Sepsis Alliance
• Where to Begin? Finding a Counselor and Beginning Therapy After Sepsis, Kristan Seaford, Licensed Professional Counselor and Sepsis Survivor; and Hailey Bain, Sepsis Survivor
• Diagnostic Solutions for Sepsis, Mark Miller, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, bioMérieux
• Holidays and Anniversaries: Marks on the Calendar Left by Sepsis, Rosalie Carter, grandmother of Amir Carter-Williams, who died of sepsis; Sandra Kleier, sepsis survivor; and Kaitlin Walden, mother of a sepsis survivor
• Unmet Expectations: Grief When Sepsis Changes Your Life, Kristan Seaford, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counsellor and Sepsis Survivor; Darrell Raikes, Sepsis Survivor; Kaitlin Walden, Mother of Pediatric Sepsis Survivor
• Pain After Sepsis, Marijke Vroomen Durning, RN: Senior Clinical Content Advisor, Sepsis Alliance;Mike St. Onge, Sepsis Survivor;
  Toya Russell, Sepsis Survivor
• Caregivers’ Mental Health, Dr. Stephen M. Scheinthal: Department of Psychiatry, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine
• Amputee Panel, Katy Grainger, Kim Gilliam Steele & Mike St. Onge: Sepsis Survivors and Amputees
• Sepsis and Older Adults, Al Cardillo, LMSW: President & CEO, Home Care Association of New York State
  & Wayne Shepard, RN: Director, Delaware County Office of the Aging
• Advocacy Basics, Kristin DeVries: Director of Advocacy, Sepsis Alliance
• Grief 101, Kristan Seaford, LPC
• Disparities in Sepsis Cases, Sandy N. Cayo, DNP, and Cindy Hou, DO
• Sepsis awareness resources
• Adaptive fitness and meditation classes
• and more