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Nursing team completes 150-mile bike ride to raise awareness of sepsis

Yeovil-based nursing team join others from around the UK in challenge to beat preventable killer

A nursing team refused to let punctures or a crash defeat them as they completed a 150-mile cycle from Somerset to the Houses of Parliament to raise awareness of sepsis yesterday.

Dawn Mackle, Emily Paulley, Jess Purdy, Luke Curtis, Leigh Beard and Tony Smith began the three-day ride from Yeovil District Hospital on Sunday and followed a route which took them to other hospitals including Basingstoke and Salisbury.

Yesterday they met up with around 40 other healthcare professionals who had cycled from different parts of the country and together they completed the final 20 miles to Westminster.

It coincided with a reception at which the Department of Health launched a new 'paediatric toolkit' designed by the UK Sepsis Trust – in a bid to reduce death rates among children.

Sepsis is triggered by an infection, leading the body's immune system to go into overdrive. Left untreated it can be fatal.

Nearly 37,000 people die from the sepsis every year in the UK and preventing the condition could save the NHS £160 million.

The toolkit is a screening test of step-by-step questions and symptoms in the form of a handy card, so nurses and doctors can carry it with them to help quickly spot symptoms of sepsis and speed up treatment.

There is also a pocket guide version for parents.

Mr Curtis, a clinical site charge nurse who has worked at the Yeovil Hospital for four years, said: ‘There were punctures and one of the team hit a bollard, but apart from being very tired we all got through the challenge and had fun spreading a serious message.’

The team, who also made and starred in an educational film set to the song 'Don’t Leave Me This Way', were supported on the ride by sepsis lead and intensive care nurse Emma Young.

She said: ‘I see sepsis on a weekly basis and am passionate about wanting to tackle it because it can be treated so easily if the signs are spotted quickly.’