Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) is a series of medical procedures and techniques that treat immediate life-threatening heart conditions. Healthcare providers and first responders with ACLS certification can save lives by delivering rapid treatment and monitoring.
Recently, several innovations in technology have been developed with the purpose of improving ACLS outcomes. These new tools improve patient outcomes, from AI-based systems to user-friendly portable devices and more.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of computer systems to think and perform as humans. AI is an umbrella term that can refer to many different types of technology, but the most well-known and widely used type of AI today is machine learning. This is the technique that powers everything from DeepMind’s world champion Go playing AI to Google translate and face recognition algorithms.
Rather than giving these software programs a list of instructions for doing something, programmers give them examples and let the AIs learn by themselves. This method, called unsupervised machine learning, has allowed for a massive boom in AI capabilities over the last decade.
This is partly because it’s easier now than ever to get AIs the information they need to be effective and because the computing power required has dropped significantly. The ability for machines to learn by themselves has also made it possible for AIs to take on tasks they were never programmed for, and this is called supervised machine learning.
A common example is the emergence of voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, powered by speech-to-text systems that use supervised ML to understand what they hear, process the words, and answer questions accordingly. One of the most prominent supervised ML systems is GPT 3.5, on which Bard’s ChatGPT is based, and the largest – and most sophisticated – is LaMDA, developed by Google.
Another popular application of supervised ML is natural language processing, which allows AIs to respond to prompts in a more human-like way by matching words and phrases. This is used in a wide range of applications, including voice-activated personal assistants, customer support, and chatbots.
The ultimate goal of AI is to create a machine that can match or exceed human intelligence, but this remains far in the future. This is known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), and it’s the kind of “true” AI depicted in countless science fiction stories.
For now, most of the advances in AI are coming in more narrowly defined areas. AI is already reducing error rates in manufacturing and financial services and helping to improve healthcare through automated diagnostic tools and other technologies. For instance, AI-powered robotic surgery systems can support operations close to delicate organs and tissue to mitigate blood loss and risk of infection.
Advanced Monitoring Systems
ACLS is a critical set of procedures used in emergency situations to save lives from cardiac arrest and other life-threatening events. It is a series of evidence-based responses that are simple enough to memorize and recall in stressful moments.
These life-saving techniques have been developed through research, patient case studies, clinical studies, and the opinions of professionals in the field. They include chest compressions, airway management, defibrillation, and other medications. Several advanced technologies have been developed with the intention of improving ACLS procedures and increasing their effectiveness. These include artificial intelligence-based systems, advanced monitoring devices, and portable defibrillators.
Medical staff must be able to read and interpret ECGs in order to diagnose and treat a patient’s heart problems. AI-based monitoring systems can assist in this process by providing real-time warnings about a possible cardiac event. This will reduce the amount of time needed to identify the patient’s condition, enabling medical staff to respond more quickly.
Another important part of ACLS is ensuring that the patient’s airway remains clear and open for ventilation. Airway management techniques include endotracheal intubation and supraglottic airways. In addition, healthcare providers must know how to use oxygen tanks and ventilators. These tools can help prevent hypoxia, which is a significant risk factor for cardiac arrest.
Defibrillation is an essential part of any resuscitation attempt, especially in patients experiencing cardiac arrest. In addition to knowing how to deliver shocks, ACLS providers must be familiar with different arrhythmias and understand how each one may affect a patient’s life-threatening situation. For example, ventricular fibrillation requires immediate defibrillation in order to restore normal sinus rhythm.
Advanced monitoring systems can improve patient outcomes by reducing the time it takes to identify a potential cardiac event and provide life-saving treatment. These tools can also be used to prevent errors, such as misinterpreting a patient’s vital signs or using improper medication doses. In some cases, these devices can even detect when a patient is experiencing a life-threatening event, such as a cardiac arrest or pulmonary embolism. They can also alert medical staff to the location of the event.
Portable Defibrillators
Defibrillators are vital to saving the life of someone suffering from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). A person who suffers an episode of SCA has only minutes to live, and if they don’t receive immediate help, they will die. Defibrillators can analyze the heart rhythm and determine whether a shock is needed; if so, they deliver an electric current to help the heart restart.
While defibrillators used in hospitals are only for medical professionals, portable defibrillators can be purchased and kept in your home, office, or vehicle for use by non-professionals. These devices are known as Automated External Defibrillators or AEDs. They can be used by those who have received basic First Aid training, and they will guide the user through the process with clear instructions and voice prompts. These devices can detect two types of life-threatening arrhythmias, ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, and they will automatically determine if the patient is in a shockable rhythm.
AEDs will place electrode pads on the chest and use an internal computer to analyze the heart rhythm, making it possible for the device to determine if a shock is required. Those who purchase an AED will be able to select which type of shock they want to administer – biphasic or monophasic. Monophasic shocks are less effective in taking the heart out of fibrillation, while biphasic shocks deliver a combination of low- and high-energy doses to help the victim survive and minimize potential side effects.
Shock delivery is typically performed after the victim has been administered CPR. To help reduce the time it takes for the defibrillator to call for “hands-off” and deliver a shock, some Philips HeartStart OnSite AED models offer a feature called Quick Shock that delivers a high shock immediately following CPR. This allows the operator to continue to perform chest compressions while the defibrillator is preparing for the shock, increasing the chances of survival for the victim.
AEDs are becoming more and more commonplace in public places, including airports, community centers, schools, churches, and offices so that people can take the necessary steps to save a life if the need arises. Shop ZOLL products to learn more about the best AEDs for sale that are easy to operate and provide a variety of quality features like easy-to-read real-time feedback screens, CPR voice prompts, ready indicators, and one-piece pads.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
The term Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) is commonly used in medical communities to refer to the more advanced emergency treatment procedures and medications that are recommended beyond the basic life support guidelines taught in Basic Life Support. This more specialized care is generally provided by trained healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, and paramedics who are certified in ACLS.
CPR is the most commonly known and highly effective of all the advanced ACLS techniques. The process involves breathing into a patient’s mouth or nose, usually through a bag-valve-mask device, to deliver oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, helping keep the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system.
Bystander CPR can double or even triple the survival rates from cardiac arrest. The key to maximizing these survival rates is early recognition and calling for help by activating the local emergency response system, e.g., in the Czech Republic, telephoning 155. This, along with delivering CPR and defibrillation within 3-5 minutes of collapse, can greatly improve the chances of returning to a normal heart rhythm and recovering to discharge.
Defibrillation is the use of high-energy electrical shocks to restore the heart’s natural rhythm by interrupting the abnormal conduction pathways. A variety of methods can be used for this purpose, including mono- or biphasic defibrillation, transcutaneous defibrillation, and ventricular pacing.
Other resuscitation techniques include airway management, which is accomplished by inserting a tube into the windpipe, known as intubation, and mechanical ventilation, which uses an artificial lung to help keep the victim’s lungs full of oxygen. Other techniques include point-of-care ultrasound, which allows healthcare professionals to quickly and easily detect a number of potential reversible causes of shock, such as free pericardial fluid and pneumothorax.
Despite their many benefits, it is important to remember that automated mCPR does not replace manual chest compression and should only be used under certain circumstances, such as when high-quality manual chest compression cannot be delivered or if the person is at risk of harming himself or herself, such as in hypothermia or a low cardiac output state. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews also suggests that automated mCPR may increase hands-off time during defibrillation, leading to reduced cardiac output and possibly negating any physiologic benefit.