OUR COURSES

ACLS: COURSE OVERVIEW | PALS: COURSE OVERVIEW
BLS: COURSE OVERVIEW | FIRST AID: COURSE OVERVIEW

 

ACLS: COURSE OVERVIEW

ACLS stands for Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support. ACLS begins with the basics of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and continues on to advanced treatment options for the victim of cardiac arrest.

ACLS is also about conditions that lead to cardiac arrest, such as: respiratory arrest, bradycardia, tachycardia, acute coronary syndrome, and stroke.

The primary goal of ACLS is recognizing life-threatening cardiac problems and providing prompt assessment and treatment during the initial minutes of the emergency.

ACLS follows internationally accepted treatment guidelines developed using evidence-based practice. These guidelines represent the consensus recommendations of resuscitation experts, and provide us with a common “playbook” when a cardiac emergency occurs. By learning a standard approach to assessing and treating cardiac emergencies as an organized team, ACLS providers from different settings can work together effectively.

Prior to beginning the ACLS course, students should have a working knowledge of:

• Basic Life Support (BLS/CPR)
• Basic ECG Rhythm Identification

Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) focuses on basic and advanced treatment of cardiac emergencies, and is part of an overall system to improve survival. To maximize survival, each component of the system must work effectively, including:

• Early recognition
• Early activation of the emergency response system
• Early CPR
• Early defibrillation
• High-quality advanced life support
• Post-arrest care

This system begins with early recognition of cardiac arrest and activation of the emergency response system. Community education programs to train the public to recognize cardiac arrest and other life-threatening emergencies can improve survival. Early activation of the emergency response system reduces time to treatment, including improving early defibrillation. Out of the hospital setting, the emergency response system is activated by calling 9-1-1, or other regional emergency number. In the hospital setting, healthcare providers should know the emergency number used to summon help.

While ACLS certification requires knowledge of advanced treatment algorithms, these advanced interventions are secondary to early CPR and early defibrillation. Here again community outreach programs and facility-specific response strategies can reduce the time to CPR and the time to defibrillation by increasing the number of willing rescuers and improving access to AEDs.

Early recognition, early access, early CPR, and early defibrillation are all needed to maximize survival. Survival may be further improved by high-quality advanced life support capable of performing advanced interventions, such as advanced airway management, vascular access, and medication administration. Advanced life support is also needed to provide effective post-arrest care, support oxygenation, ventilation, and circulation for the post-arrest patient.

 

PALS: COURSE OVERVIEW

PALS stands for Pediatric Advanced Life Support. The PALS course presents the knowledge and resuscitation skills needed for the emergent treatment of three types of life-threatening conditions in the pediatric population:

• Cardiac emergencies, including both cardiac arrest and cardiac arrhythmias that may lead to cardiac arrest.
• Respiratory emergencies, including upper and lower airway obstructions, lung tissue disease, and disordered control of breathing.
• Shock, including hypovolemic, obstructive, distributive, and cardiogenic shock.

The primary goal of PALS is to recognize life-threatening pediatric emergencies and provide prompt assessment and treatment during the initial minutes of the emergency.

PALS follows internationally accepted treatment guidelines developed using evidence-based practice. These guidelines represent the consensus recommendations of experts in pediatric resuscitation, and provide us with a common “playbook” when a pediatric emergency occurs. By learning a standard approach to assessing and treating pediatric emergencies as an organized team, PALS providers from different settings can work together effectively.

Prior to beginning the PALS course, students should have a working knowledge of:

• Basic Life Support (BLS/CPR), including CPR for infant and child victims
• Basic ECG Rhythm Identification

Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) provides a systematic method for recognition, assessment and treatment of pediatric emergencies. The PALS course includes a review of basic and advanced treatment for cardiac, respiratory and shock emergencies.

PALS is part of an overall system to improve survival. To maximize survival, each component of the system must work effectively, including:

• Early recognition
• Early activation of the emergency response system
• Early CPR
• Early defibrillation
• High-quality advanced life support
• Post-arrest care

This system begins with early recognition of pediatric emergencies and cardiac arrest. Especially for cardiac arrest, survival is improved significantly by early activation of the emergency response system. Community education programs to train the public to recognize cardiac arrest and other life-threatening pediatric emergencies can improve survival. Out of the hospital setting, the emergency response system is activated by calling 9-1-1, or other regional emergency number. In the hospital setting, healthcare providers should know the emergency number used to summon help.

While PALS certification requires knowledge of advanced treatment algorithms, these advanced interventions are secondary to early CPR and early defibrillation for the cardiac arrest victim. Here again, community outreach programs and facility-specific response strategies can reduce the time to CPR and the time to defibrillation by increasing the number of willing rescuers and improving access to AEDs.

Early recognition, early access, early CPR, and early defibrillation are all needed to maximize survival from cardiac arrest. Survival may be further improved by high-quality advanced life support capable of performing advanced interventions, such as advanced airway management, vascular access, and medication administration. Advanced life support is also needed to provide effective post-arrest care, supporting oxygenation, ventilation, and circulation for the post-arrest patient. Advanced life support can also improve survival from life-threatening respiratory and shock emergencies.

 

BLS: COURSE OVERVIEW

BLS stands for "Basic Life Support." For the victim of cardiac arrest, basic life support (BLS) includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED).

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) combines chest compressions with rescue breathing to provide ventilation, oxygenation and blood flow when the cardiac arrest victim’s heart has stopped beating.

Basic Life Support (BLS) training also includes rescue breathing for a victim that is not breathing, and emergency care for a choking victim.

By the end of this Basic Life Support (BLS) course, you should be able to:

• Recognize cardiac arrest
• Activate the emergency response system
• Perform CPR with 1 or 2 rescuers for a victim of cardiac arrest
• Perform CPR for an adult, child, or infant victim
• Use an automated external defibrillator (AED)
• Provide rescue breathing for a victim of respiratory arrest
• Provide emergency care for the choking victim
• Understand how CPR and BLS will be integrated with advanced life support

The primary goal of BLS is to increase cardiac arrest survival.

To maximize survival, providers of basic life support (BLS) must quickly recognize cardiac arrest, activate the emergency response system, provide high-quality CPR, and use an automated external defibrillator (AED).

This BLS course follows internationally accepted treatment guidelines developed using evidence-based practice. These guidelines represent the consensus recommendations of resuscitation experts.

Following these guidelines when an emergency occurs will help maximize your patient’s chance of survival. The guidelines also provide us with a common “playbook” when cardiac arrest occurs. By using a standard approach to assessing and treating cardiac arrest as an organized team, BLS providers from different backgrounds can work together effectively – by learning these guidelines, you should be able to work quickly alongside a co-worker, friend, or even a complete stranger without confusion or delay!

Basic Life Support (BLS) focuses on early recognition and treatment of cardiac arrest, and is part of an overall system to improve survival. To maximize survival, each component of the system must work effectively, including:

• Early recognition
• Early activation of the emergency response system
• Early CPR
• Early defibrillation
• High-quality advanced life support
• Post-arrest care

 

FIRST AID: COURSE OVERVIEW

When emergencies happen, it takes time for professional rescuers and healthcare providers to arrive. Whether you are in your home, at work, or at play, knowing basic first aid and CPR empowers you to help yourself, your family, and others.

When an injury or sudden illness happens, what you do in the first few minutes of the emergency can be life-saving. This course will help you recognize emergencies, teach you when and how to activate the emergency response system, and teach you what to do in the first few minutes of the emergency before professional rescuers arrive.

The first half of this course covers basic first aid. You will see how to treat minor injuries and illnesses, and learn how to recognize and respond to life-threatening emergencies. Your actions in those first few minutes can provide comfort and reduce pain, and avoid further injury – you may even save a life!

The second half of this course focuses on CPR. You will learn how to recognize cardiac arrest, use of an automated external defibrillator (AED), and providing chest compressions. Training also includes rescue breathing for a victim that is not breathing, and emergency care for a choking victim.