Severe sepsis alert criteria*
| SIRS† criteria | Organ dysfunction variables |
| Temperature >38°C or <36°C | Systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg |
| Heart rate >90 beats per minute | Mean arterial pressure <65 mm Hg |
| Respiratory rate >20 breaths per minute | >40% decrease of known baseline systolic blood pressure |
| White cell count <4x109/L or >12x109/L | Bilirubin, creatinine > 2mg/dl, lactate >2meq/L |
| Bandemia >10% | Platelets <100x109/L |
| INR >1.5 or PTT >60 sec |
Bilirubin and creatinine measured in mg/dl, lactate measured as meq/L
*A severe sepsis alert was called if a patient met two or more SIRS criteria plus one organ dysfunction variable not explained by an existing medical comorbidity (ie, a chronic cirrhosis with a total bilirubin ≥2 or more).
†SIRS criteria were used in accordance with the 2012 iteration of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines.
INR, international normalized ratio; PTT, partial thromboplastin time; SIRS, systemic inflammatory response syndrome.