BASE 90-30-90

Overview

A practical ENT-focused shift card for recognizing sepsis early in patients who may initially look like “severe tonsillitis,” “peritonsillar abscess,” “ear infection,” “sinusitis,” “deep neck infection,” or “post-operative wound infection.” The danger is that the local ENT diagnosis can distract from the systemic collapse already beginning underneath. The shift rule is simple: do not wait for complete circulatory failure before acting. If an infected patient has a systolic pressure below 90, a respiratory rate above 30, or an oxygen saturation below 90%, this is not a minor observation. This is the beginning of resuscitation.