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Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) is a form of cardiac arrest in which the electrocardiogram shows a heart rhythm that should produce a pulse, but does not. Pulseless electrical activity is found initially in about 20% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests [ 1 ] and about 50% of in-hospital cardiac arrests.
Advanced cardiac life support, advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) refers to a set of clinical guidelines established by the American Heart Association (AHA) for the urgent and emergent treatment of life-threatening cardiovascular conditions that will cause or have caused cardiac arrest, using advanced medical procedures, medications, and techniques.
The following year the program was changed, replacing the on-board doctors with fire department paramedics given advanced special training and remote access to the doctors. In 1974, the TV news-magazine 60 Minutes profiled the success of Medic One, lauding the high standards of training and education provided by the Seattle training program.
The two "shockable" rhythms are ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, while the two "non-shockable" rhythms are asystole and pulseless electrical activity. [65] Moreover, in the post-resuscitation patient, a 12-lead EKG can help identify some causes of cardiac arrest, such as STEMI which may require specific treatments.
Defibrillation is effective only for certain heart rhythms, namely ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia, rather than asystole or pulseless electrical activity, which usually requires the treatment of underlying conditions to restore cardiac function. Early shock, when appropriate, is recommended.
Pulseless ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation are treated with unsynchronized shocks referred to as defibrillation. Electrical therapy is inappropriate for sinus tachycardia , which should always be a part of the differential diagnosis .
An automated external defibrillator or automatic electronic defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, [1] and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electricity which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to re ...
The 4 main cardiac arrest rhythms are ventricular fibrillation (VF), pulseless ventricular tachycardia (pVT), asystole, and pulseless electrical activity (PEA). Ventricular tachycardia. ventricular fibrillation (VF): disorganized and rapid quivering of the ventricles; pulseless ventricular tachycardia (pVT): organized wide QRS complexes with no ...