Paediatric Cardiac Life Support

Cardiac arrest in a child is different from adult cardiac arrest. The cause of arrest in the child is most often severe hypoxia due to obstruction of the airway or severe respiratory disease. In contrast primary cardiac causes are most common in adults with myocardial ischaemia often the trigger for cardiac arrest arrhythmia. It is therefore not surprising that cardiac life support in the child focuses not only the initiation of early cardiac compressions but places an emphasis on early and effective ventilation and ensuring the airway is clear. The course will assist you as a health professional to become familiar with the procedure for the initiation of basic CPR in the child and the paediatric ALS algorithm for managing both shockable and non- shockable arrest in children. The course will review the key reversible causes for cardiac arrest that need to be considered in the child and illustrate the management of paediatric cardiac arrest due to drowning in a case scenario.

The course begins with an eTutorial that introduces the principles for paediatric cardiac life support and is then followed by an interactive case scenario that allows you to apply the theory to the practical care of a child with cardiac arrest. A final quiz allows you to assess your mastery of the topic.

Topics covered in this course include:

• Initiating basic life support in the child
• Recommendations for health professionals performing CPR
• Use of the AED in the child
• Charge and Check procedure
• Classification of arrest arrhythmias
• ALS interventions : drugs / defibrillation
• Not to be missed reversible causes of arrest in the child
• Post resuscitation management in the child