AHA PALS Provider case studies
AHA PALS Provider · Put your knowledge to work in context.
PALS - Pediatric Advanced Life Support - is one of the advanced resuscitation credentials the American Heart Association lists among its healthcare professional courses, alongside BLS and ACLS. The AHA describes that path as the place to "get training or renew BLS, ACLS, or PALS credentials," so candidates are typically clinicians who may have to manage a critically ill infant or child: physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, paramedics, and other advanced providers, whether certifying for the first time or renewing. The AHA PALS Provider case studies are 5 cases and about 3,343 words.
1The Quiet Chest: Asthma That Is No Longer Breathing
A 4-year-old (18 kg) with a 2-year history of asthma is brought to the emergency department after 6 hours of worsening cough and wheeze. In the department she has received three albuterol/ipratropium nebulizers and oral prednisolone.
647 words, about 3 min2Drooling, Tripod, and a Nurse With an IV Catheter
A 3-year-old (14 kg) is brought in at 2 a.m. with 10 hours of fever to 39.4°C, drooling, a muffled voice, and soft stridor at rest.
671 words, about 3 min3Wide Complex at 210 in a Collapsing Athlete
A 13-year-old (50 kg) collapses during a basketball game, then stands up pale and dizzy. The monitor shows a regular wide-complex tachycardia at 210/min with a QRS of 0.14 s, blood pressure 82/45 mmHg, SpO2 96%, and capillary refill of 3 seconds.
617 words, about 3 min4Anaphylaxis in a 10 kg Toddler With No IV
A 1-year-old (10 kg) with a known peanut allergy develops facial hives, lip swelling, and vomiting 10 minutes after eating a cookie at a birthday party. On arrival he has inspiratory stridor, a hoarse cry, respiratory rate 50, SpO2 91% on room air, heart rate 170, and blood pressure 60/35 mmHg.
673 words, about 3 min5Ten Minutes After ROSC: Targets, Temperature, and a Team Going in Four Directions
A 6-year-old (20 kg) was submerged for an unknown time and received 14 minutes of CPR before return of spontaneous circulation 10 minutes ago. He is intubated and ventilated at 24 breaths/min with an FiO2 of 1.0.
735 words, about 4 min