Between December 2004 and November 2005, the authors prospectively evaluated the level of compliance with SSC guideline recommendations and its incidence on mortality in all patients admitted with community-acquired sepsis to 17 ICUs that represented 41% of all Portuguese ICU beds. The core 6-hour bundle consisted of serum lactate measurement, crystalloid or colloid infu-sion, blood cultures and other specimens for micro-biology before antibiotherapy, antibiotherapy adminis-tered within the first hour of diagnosis, and vasopressor administration if the mean arterial pressure was less than 65 mm Hg.