Your basic life support skills are critical when a patient’s life is on the line. Basic Life Support (BLS) certification ensures you are prepared to provide the highest level of patient care when an emergency arises. BLS certification must be renewed every two years, which can be challenging for healthcare professionals with little extra time in their daily schedules. After all, you chose your profession to care for patients, not sit in a classroom. Fortunately, there are options in American Heart Association BLS renewal online that make it less stressful for you to keep your certification u ..read more

In-hospital cardiac arrest affects tens of thousands of patients every year. It is associated with poor patient outcomes, with only about one-quarter of cardiac arrest patients surviving the event. Many that do survive suffer from lifelong neurological disability. While these numbers tend to be higher than cardiac arrest events that occur outside a hospital setting, they still leave much room for improvement.  Numerous studies have indicated that high-quality CPR improves cardiac arrest patient outcomes. Despite this basic fact, many healthcare workers are not prepared to deliver the hi ..read more

Healthcare professionals keep extremely busy schedules, in which they also have to find time to fit ongoing training requirements. In a field where patients depend on the availability of their doctors, nurses, and paramedics to provide the care they need, it is difficult for these professionals to find the time to complete certification courses and maintain their necessary credentials. Fortunately, there is now a way to keep CPR skills up to date that works around your schedule and improves the quality of your training. HeartCode® Complete incorporates RQI (resuscitation quality improvement ..read more

Is it time for your initial BLS certification or a renewal course? Now, you have more options for pursuing BLS certification than ever before. Whether you choose conventional instructor-led training (ILT) courses or the newer blended learning model that uses resuscitation quality improvement (RQI), you can find the certification course that works the best for you. The critical life-saving skills you learn during BLS courses can have a profound impact on your level of patient care during emergencies. The ability to respond quickly and provide high-quality CPR makes the difference between life ..read more

Ventricular tachycardia (Vtach) and ventricular fibrillation (Vfib) are two potentially life-threatening heart arrhythmias that originate in the ventricles of the heart. The electrical activity of the heart varies with Vtach vs. Vfib and different treatments might be indicated. Differentiating between these two arrhythmias begins with a comprehensive understanding of how to decode ECG results. What is VTach? Normally, electrical signals in the heart originate in the sinoatrial (SA) node. Known as the heart’s natural pacemaker, the SA node begins each heartbeat and moves it through the hea ..read more

Capnography may be the most important vital sign you use to monitor your EMS patient. It provides information about airway placement, tracks ventilation, and measures carbon dioxide during exhalation. This feedback is invaluable in determining the severity of your patient’s condition and how well they respond to treatment. Healthcare workers, particularly those specializing in respiratory care, need to understand how these insights from capnography waveforms can help them manage their patient care. The first step in caring for patients in cardiac arrest, respiratory distress, or shock is to ..read more

Imagine your patient presents with no pulse. You begin CPR and hook the patient up to your heart rate monitor. The ECG monitor shows pulseless electrical activity (PEA). You have just minutes to restore this patient’s normal heart rhythm and electrical shock won’t be effective. What do you do? PEA arrests are common in a hospital setting. One study found that PEA is the first documented rhythm in 30-38% of cardiac arrest patients and survival rates for those patients are poor. A critical component of ACLS must include steps to identify PEA on an EKG and respond quickly with appropriate treat ..read more

Importance of Storm and Flood Preparedness Floods are the most common natural disaster in the US, so storm and flood preparedness is critical to protect the lives of you, your family members, and your pets. From getting to safe shelter to ensuring your family has essential supplies in the event services are cut off for a time, preparation makes a difference in how safely and comfortably you may wait out a flood. Flooding refers to a temporary water overflow on an area of land that doesn’t usually have water. Floods can occur due to snow, rain, storm surges, coastal storms, and overflows of ..read more

What does LMA mean? Laryngeal mask airway (LMA) ventilation has been a preferred method of ventilation since it was introduced in 1988. Many anesthesia experts consider the LMA to be an essential development in airway management due to its comfort and safety. Knowing how to use a laryngeal mask airway is critical for healthcare workers who want to provide the highest level of care during surgery and in the event of respiratory failure. What is a Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA)? The LMA is a supraglottic airway device that was first designed for elective ventilation in the operating room. The t ..read more

Introduction Proper basic life support (BLS) skills are essential for any responder, often making the difference between life and death for a victim or patient. To ensure cardiopulmonary resuscitation efforts are successful, responders should be prepared to act both alone and as part of a high-performance team. All responders should remain up to date on BLS skills, using a BLS field guide like this one, to ensure they are prepared for a resuscitation event in any situation. Chapter 1: Understanding Basic Life Support BLS encompasses medical care healthcare professionals use to treat pati ..read more