ACLS Protocols
The American Heart Association published new advanced cardiac life support or ACLS guidelines in 2001. These guidelines were a departure in many ways from the old guidelines and included many new drugs in a case-based format. In conjunction with these guidelines, the course that all inpatient
providers should take now emphasizes knowledge of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia or irregular heart beats, respiratory arrests, and acute ischemic strokes.
Many patient advocates and safety officers feel that responsible health care providers should participate in a refresher course of their skills every two years. More information on the current guidelines is available for patients to review at www.americanheart.org/cpr/
Copyright 2006 Insidesurgery.com
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