Category: ACLS

What is Beck’s Triad? Beck’s triad is a collection of three medical signs that are associated with acute cardiac tamponade. Cardiac tamponade is a medical emergency where excessive fluid accumulates in the pericardial sac around the heart, which impairs its ability to pump blood. The concept of Becks triad was developed by Claude Beck in […]

What is Fibrinolytic Therapy? Fibrinolytic therapy, also known as thrombolytic therapy, is used to lyse acute blood clots by activating plasminogen. This results in the formation of plasmin, which cleaves the fibrin cross-links causing thrombus breakdown. Although fibrinolytic medications are not usually found in advanced cardiac life support pharmacological drug cards, their use is extremely […]

What is an LMA? The LMA (laryngeal mask airway) is an advanced airway alternative to endotracheal tube (ET) intubation that provides comparable ventilation. It is acceptable for healthcare providers to use the LMA as an alternative to an ET tube for airway management in cardiac arrest. However, there are certain situations where an LMA would […]

What is a Nasopharyngeal Airway? A nasopharyngeal airway, also referred to as an NPA, is a type of basic airway adjunct. The nasopharyngeal airway tube is designed to be inserted into the nasal passageway to help secure an open airway. After a patient loses consciousness, the muscles in the jaw will usually relax. This unfortunately […]

What is ROSC? ROSC (or the return of spontaneous circulation) is the resumption of sustained perfusing cardiac activity associated with significant respiratory effort after cardiac arrest. Signs of ROSC include moving, coughing, or breathing, along with signs of a palpable pulse or a measurable blood pressure. Both cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation increase the chances of […]

What is Synchronized Cardioversion? Synchronized cardioversion is a treatment technique that uses a sensor to deliver a shock that is synchronized with a peak in the QRS complex. Defibrillators can deliver two types of shocks – synchronized and unsynchronized. Unsynchronized shocks refer to a shock that is delivered immediately after the healthcare professional pushes the […]

What are the Hs and Ts? The Hs and Ts are a mnemonic aid used to remember the possible reversible causes of cardiac arrest. A variety of disease processes can lead to cardiac arrest. However, they usually boil down to one or more of the Hs and Ts that will be outline below. The Hs […]