Rationale
Cardiac arrest is life-threatening. Timely basic and advanced cardiac life support improves patient survival outcomes.
Causal Conditions
(list not exhaustive)
- Coronary artery disease
- Cardiac conduction abnormalities
- Myocardial abnormalities
- Noncardiac causes (e.g., tension pneumothorax, pulmonary embolus, hypothermia)
Key Objectives
Given a patient with cardiac arrest, the candidate will be able to initiate immediate acute cardiac life support and construct an appropriate subsequent management plan.
Enabling Objectives
Given a patient with cardiac arrest, the candidate will
- list and interpret critical clinical findings, including
- pulseless circulatory state; and
- features that may help determine the cause of the arrest;
- list and interpret critical investigations; and
- construct an effective management plan, including
- initiating basic life support (BLS) and advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) protocols; and
- communicating with family members concerning the event, including
- outcome,
- organ donation, and
- autopsy request.