The Rory Staunton Foundation for Sepsis Prevention launched four Public Service Announcements which are being rapidly shared on social media.

The first video featuring Rory Staunton’s mother, Orlaith, was posted last Tuesday and already has over 314,000 views. The Rory Staunton Foundation was established after Orlaith and Ciaran’s son’s death from sepsis in April 2012. Its aim is to reduce the number of sepsis caused deaths through education and outreach aimed at faster diagnosis and effective treatment of sepsis, particularly in children. This series of four PSAs aims to bring global attention to the signs of sepsis, which kills over 250,000 Americans every year and costs our healthcare system $24 billion annually.

In Orlaith’s PSA on the Foundation’s Facebook page she writes:

“Rory said to me were, “Mom, my toes are cold, my toes are cold”, not knowing any better I thought it was because they weren’t covered by a blanket and I rubbed his toes and covered them. They were cold because the blood had stopped flowing to them – this is what happens in septic shock, the blood does not flow where it should flow; it stops flowing to the vital organs causing them to fail, and then most often your loved one dies. We had no idea.

“This Public Service Announcement is about Rory, it is the second of four PSA's we will release this week. Oh how I wish we had known the signs of sepsis! Rory’s beautiful life was taken by sepsis; his death was preventable. Rory did not receive the necessary care to save his life, no one checked for sepsis.”

The Rory Staunton Foundation recently hosted its third national forum on sepsis on Sept 12 in New York City. The Foundation continues to mobilize a national task force to protect Americans from the devastating, irreversible, and unnecessary ravages of sepsis. Knowing the signs of sepsis saves lives. Caught in time, IV fluids and broad spectrum antibiotics provide a cure.

“Had we known the signs, our Rory would be alive today,” stated Orlaith Staunton, Rory’s mother. “Our work over the past few years has proven extremely successful in raising awareness and improving sepsis care in this country.”

In 2013, the Rory Staunton Foundation orchestrated the adoption of mandatory sepsis protocols – called Rory’s Regulations – in New York State. Last month these protocols were also implemented in Illinois, where they are known as Gabby’s Law in honor of Gabriella Galbo who needlessly lost her life to sepsis at just five years of age. “We will not rest until medical institutions in every state mandate the same protocols,” continued Staunton. “We will continue to take every measure to protect the American people. It is what Rory would have wanted.”

For more information visit www.RoryStauntonFoundationForSepsis.org.

Here’s their second PSA post: