Students who need to be certified usually include healthcare professionals who either participate or direct the management of cardiac arest or other cardiovascular emergencies. Advanced cardiovascular life support or ACLS is a set of interventions for cardiac arrest, strokes, and other life threatening emergencies. It also covers the necessary skills to perform those respective interventions. This includes healthcare professionals in the ICU, ER and emergency medicine who will need an ACLS certificate for their job or unit. 

BLS or Basic Life support includes interventions for life threatening injuries, providing resuscitative efforts until they can receive full medical care at the hospital. This can be provided by anyone who has taken a BLS class including both healthcare professionals and laypersons. ACLS is an advanced course that further extends the skills of the basic training. It can be provided in a pre-hospital and hospital setting and attempts to manage cardiac and respiratory arrest, arrhythmias, and strokes. 

ACLS certifications need to be renewed every other year or bi-annually. This is well known as an ACLS recertification or ACLS renewal class. These classes help ensure healthcare professionals are up to date on all the latest research in emergency care.

The skills needed to pass the ACLS class include the following – profecient BLS skills, recognizing and initiating early management for peri-arrest conditions, cardiac arrest, ACS, Stroke, and team dynamics. 

ACLS algorithms provide a detailed diagram that acts as a guide during emergencies to make accurate decisions. These include ACLS bradycardia with a pulse, ACLS Tachycardia with a pulse, ACLS Acute coronary syndromes, ACLS stroke algorithms, and finally the ACLS cardiac arrest algorithm.

While, with some organizations, they will certify you if you take the course online, with the american heart association ACLS class you will need to at least complete the hands on skills practice in person. You may also take the ACLS exam at one of our offices, search “ACLS renewal near me” to see what options are available near you.

To be familiar with the ACLS protocols, you have to be familiar with the doses of the most common medications used for ACLS which includes: amiodarone, lidocaine, atropine, epinephrine, magnesium, sodium bicarbonate, and adenosine. These drugs are utilized in various ways to help restore a regular sinus rhythm, increase the patients BP, or help correct electrolyte imbalances during resuscitative attempts. 

To prepare for an ACLS certification exam, comprehensive study and practical training is required. You must be proficient in reading ECG’s, the pharmacology, bls skills, and ACLS algorithms to have a good probability of passing the exam. We will provide resources for you to study upon registration. 

H’s and T’s are reviewed during resuscitative attempts to cover potential reversible causes of the cardiac arrest. They include hypoxia, hypovolemia, hydrogen ions, hyper or hypo kalemia, and hypothermia. The T’s include toxins, thrombosis, tamponade, and a tension pneumothorax. The student being able to recognize and treat these conditions will play a crucial role in managing the resuscitation efforts. 

Defibrillation is an attempt to shock the heart in attempt to reset the heart’s rhythm back to a normal sinus rhythm. In doing so, the patent is able to achieve rosc and we are able to move to the post cardiac arrest care ACLS algorithm. We use a biphasic manual defibrillator during our practice megacodes. 

ABCDE, airway, breathing, circulation, differential diagnosis, and evaluation, this acronym is the key to recognition and performance of interventions during a cardiac arrest emergency. This ACLS assessment will be used in conjunction with the BLS assessment and skills. 

The sooner the better, stroke management in ACLS involves an immediate CT of the head to determine if it is ischemic or hemorrhagic in nature. If it is not hemorrhagic and no contraindications exists, we can begin the administration of thrombolytics. 

The most updated ACLS guidelines and algorithms can be found on our resources page, just head to the bottom of any page on our website and click “resources”. The american heart association updates its ACLS book and content for students every five years. We also update our AHA ACLS material every 5 years respectively. 

Practice! We will provide a youtube channel that you can utilize to help in your studies. This serves great importance in practice during ACLS both in your ACLS certification class and more importantly, in practice.