Meningococcal sepsis with a non-blanching rash
Educational use only. Not clinically reviewed15-year-old girl for calm recognition, escalation, bounded antimicrobial and fluid intent, reassessment, and handoff practice. About 7 simulated minutes.
What you will practise
- Reconcile the rash, perfusion, conscious level, laboratory evidence, and whole patient.
- Recognize a strongly suspected meningococcal pattern without closing on one marker or on vaccination.
- Activate senior decision-making, laboratory, and critical-care ownership.
- Review the antimicrobial timing and fluid-ceiling boundary.
- Record bounded qualified-team intent, then escalate when the authored review shows an inadequate response.
- Hand off unresolved shock, source and contact questions, and active risk.
Review and sources
Not clinically reviewed. No clinician has signed this scenario.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Meningitis (bacterial) and meningococcal disease: recognition, diagnosis and management. NICE guideline NG240. Published 2024-03-19. Recommendations 1.1.9, 1.1.10, 1.1.12, 1.2.3, 1.5.1, 1.5.3, 1.5.4.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Suspected sepsis in under 16s: recognition, diagnosis and early management. NICE guideline NG254. Published 2025-11-19, replacing NG51. Table 3 and recommendations 1.7.2, 1.7.6, 1.7.9, 1.7.10, 1.7.11, 1.9.2.
- Sanchez-Pinto LN, Bennett TD, DeWitt PE, et al. Development and Validation of the Phoenix Criteria for Pediatric Sepsis and Septic Shock. JAMA. 2024;331(8):675-686. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.0196.
Open Sim Lab is an educational simulator, not for clinical use. It is not a clinical decision-support tool, not a dosing calculator, and is not validated for any decision affecting a real patient.