Woman who lost son to sepsis pushes for law to help prevent further deaths

Skyler Sales
·2 min read
4

FREDERICK, Md. (DC News Now) — Brooke DeSantis’s five-year-old son Lochlin died from sepsis in January of 2020. Inspired to help prevent further deaths, she founded the Love for Lochlin Foundation – now, she’s pushing for a new law.

“He became sick on Friday after he came home from school,” DeSantis said. “We sought medical attention Sunday, and then Monday he had passed away so not even 12 hours later after seeing a medical professional.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sepsis happens when an infection triggers a life-threatening chain reaction in the body.

The health officer of the Frederick County Health Department Barbara Brookmyer says sepsis numbers outweigh more known illnesses like breast cancer or liver disease.

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“When we look at the most recent year for which we have the complete death data that’s 2021,” Brookmyer said. “There were 38 people who died of septicemia in 2021.”

Through the Love for Lochlin Foundation, DeSantis has been giving back by giving out flu vaccines to help prevent sepsis. Now she is taking it one step further by creating Lochlin’s Law.

“When you go into a doctor’s office, or when you go to urgent care or the hospital, they take your vitals, blood pressure, your temperature. If a few of those are out of range, it triggers the sepsis protocol – which is in place with six other states right now – and then from there, they’ll evaluate doing further testing,” DeSantis explained.

“If passed in Maryland, Lochlin’s law will be the first bill to extend it to smaller medical facilities like urgent cares and pediatrics,” she continued.

“Seeing that we can decrease that number as quickly as possible and provide the education for them and see that anybody can go into a facility and that they won’t be losing their loved one or a child,” DeSantis said.

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