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Michael Perlmutter guides you through the prehospital diagnosis and treatment of sepsis. Sepsis is a difficult diagnosis to make. Even in the hospital, where a plethora of tests are available to assist the clinician. The diagnosis remains a challenging one, due to the very nature of sepsis. A shadowy shape-shifter notorious for its ability to hide in plain sight. For now, even in-hospital, there is no test with perfect sensitivity or specificity for sepsis. This is especially true in the prehospital environment, where we must rely on tools we can bring into the field: physical exam, point of care tests (lactate/venous gas), assessment of end-tidal CO2, and ultrasound. The aim of prehospital sepsis care is two-fold – early diagnosis and early treatment. First, early diagnosis of cases ranging from early sepsis to septic shock. Point of care testing is essential. Measurement of EtCO2 serves two purposes: as a reasonable surrogate for lactate and providing an accurate respiratory rate. A vital sign that is notor