AHA ACLS Provider case studies
AHA ACLS Provider · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The AHA ACLS Provider course is the American Heart Association's advanced life support training program for healthcare professionals who either direct or participate in the management of cardiopulmonary arrest and other cardiovascular emergencies. It builds on a current BLS foundation and moves into team-based resuscitation: recognizing and interpreting rhythms on the ECG, delivering high-quality CPR with effective airway and ventilation support, running the cardiac arrest algorithms for VF/pVT, PEA and asystole, managing bradycardia and tachycardia, and applying pharmacology and electrical therapy appropriately. The AHA ACLS Provider case studies are 5 cases and about 4,680 words.
1Wide-complex tachycardia with a prior LBBB: aberrancy or VT?
A 58-year-old man walks into an urgent care clinic complaining of palpitations and lightheadedness that started 25 minutes ago. He is alert, speaking in full sentences, and denies chest pain, dyspnea, or syncope.
913 words, about 5 min2Bag-mask ventilation that is inflating the stomach, not the lungs
You are leading the resuscitation in a 12-bed outpatient clinic when a 47-year-old man collapses in the waiting room. He is unresponsive with agonal gasps.
892 words, about 4 min3Refractory VF: when the shocks are not working
A 61-year-old man had a witnessed collapse in a shopping center with bystander CPR started within 2 minutes. In the emergency department he remains in coarse ventricular fibrillation.
945 words, about 5 min4Third-degree block, atropine that does nothing, and a pacer that will not capture
A 74-year-old woman is brought in after a syncopal episode. She is confused, cool, and diaphoretic.
961 words, about 5 min5Twelve minutes of CPR, ROSC, and a team that wants to move too fast
A 55-year-old man is resuscitated after a witnessed VF arrest in a gym. Bystander CPR began within 3 minutes; ROSC is achieved after 12 minutes of ACLS, four shocks, epinephrine, and amiodarone 300 mg.
969 words, about 5 min