Introduction
The Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) was designed to save the lives of individuals experiencing an emergent condition. ACLS uses an evidence based system to simplify and streamline providers’ responses to emergency situations so that they can be put to use and easily remembered when the need arises. ACLS was developed using a combination of current guidelines, clinical cases and research, as well as expert opinion to provide the best treatment for patients.
The American Heart Association (AHA) develops these guidelines and provides the standard of care for treating emergency victims. In the past, the AHA produced a thorough update every five years to ensure that these best practices stay up to date, with the most recent produced in 2015. From now on, the AHA will continuously update the recommendations online, and these will be available at the ECC guidleines.heart.org website. These guidelines include information regarding emergency cardiovascular care (ECC) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This study guide provides the recent research from the AHA approved ACLS protocols, however, learners should utilize the website to obtain the most current information and use it to supplement information provide in this guide.
Key Takeaway
All ACLS providers treating patients must ensure that they maintain the minimal level of competency, which includes knowledge— some of which is provided here— as well as important physical skills. This study guide assumes learners have the skills of Basic Life Support (BLS) specific to adult populations. This course will provide a brief overview of basic CPR in adults, however, if a learner is not proficient in these skills, he or she should gain proficiency by taking the necessary coursework or obtaining the physical skills needed.
Effective use of ACLS ensures that providers quickly and correctly evaluate the patient who presents with any emergency medical problem. ACLS is useful throughout management of the medical condition, including the initial evaluation of the patient, treatment and re-evaluation.
Furthermore, ACLS can be used anywhere a credentialed provider finds him or herself. This means the guidelines developed by ACLS can be used in a remote location without medical equipment as well as in a tertiary care hospital with technologically advanced medical equipment. The guidelines provide a framework to provide care using whatever tools are available to provide the best available treatment for a patient presenting with an emergency. The basis of all the pathways used in both BLS and ACLS involve the thorough evaluation of the patient using the ABCDE assessment that we will review.
