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In late 2015, Medstar Union Memorial Hospital implemented a "Sepsis Response Team" initiative aimed at early detection and intervention in patients with suspected sepsis syndrome. In this program, patients are automatically identified who meet SIRS (systemic inflammatory response syndrome) prompting the nurse to draw a lactate level. Should the lactate level return out of range, the hospital's "Sepsis Response Team" is notified. and intervene, if necessary, either diagnostically or therapeutically. We are hoping that this program will ultimately translate to lower morbidity and mortality from sepsis syndrome at our institution and our system, Medstar Health. In this talk I review the background that our floor medical-surgical nurses will need to better appreciate the program, utility of lactic acid level determination and the related syndromes of sepsis and SIRS.