• Duane J Funk and Anand Kumar.
• Department of Anesthesia, Section of Critical Care Medicine, 2nd Floor Harry Medovy House, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 1X2, Canada.
• Crit Care Clin. 2011 Jan 1; 27 (1): 537653-76.

AbstractFor decades, health care workers faced the challenge of how to adequately treat life-threatening infections. To a great extent, the primary focus on improving outcomes has centered on improvement in resuscitation, deployment of antimicrobials of increasing potency, and development of novel adjunctive therapies. However, the current studies conclusively show that early recognition of life threatening infection and rapid initiation of appropriate antimicrobial therapy is the critical element in reducing mortality. If "Time is tissue" when it comes to thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction and thrombotic stroke, then an appropriate rule for life-threatening infections, particularly septic shock, is "Speed is life."Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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