BLS AND ALS

life saving procedure

1. Welcome Mr. Tariq Ahmad Dev M.sc Nursing (MSN) Assistant Professor RGCN, Jammu

2. Basic life support (BLS) (BLS) is a level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening illness or injury until the patient can be given full medical care. It can be provided by trained medical personnel, including emergency medical technicians , and by laypersons who have received BLS training. BLS is generally used in the pre-hospital setting, and can be provided without medical equipment.

3. BLS generally does not include the use of drugs or invasive skills, and can be contrasted with the provision of Advanced Life Support (ALS). Most laypersons can master BLS skills after attending a short course.Firefighters and police officers are often required to be BLS certified. BLS is also immensely useful for many other professions, such as daycare providers, teachers and security personnel.

4. CPR provided in the field buys time for higher medical responders to arrive and provide ALS care. For this reason it is essential that any person starting CPR also obtains ALS support by calling for help via radio using agency policies and procedures and/or using an appropriate emergency telephone number.

5. Basic life support consists of a number of life-saving techniques focused on the medicine "ABC"s of pre-hospital emergency care: Airway : the protection and maintenance of a clear passageway for gases (principally oxygen and carbon dioxide) to pass between the lungs and the outside of the body Breathing : inflation and deflation of the lungs (respiration) via the airway Circulation : providing an adequate blood supply to the body, especially critical organs, so as to deliver oxygen to all cells and remove carbon dioxide, via the perfusion of blood throughout the body.

6. Advanced cardiac life support ( ACLS ) refers to a set of clinical interventions for the urgent treatment of cardiac arrest and other life threatening medical emergencies, as well as the knowledge and skills to deploy those interventions .

7. Extensive medical knowledge and rigorous hands-on training and practice are required to master ACLS. Only qualified health care providers ( e.g. physicians , paramedics , nurses , respiratory therapists , clinical pharmacists , physician assistants , nurse practitioners and other specially trained health care providers) can provide ACLS, as it requires the ability to manage the patient's airway, initiate IV access, read and interpret electrocardiograms , and understand emergency pharmacology. Some health professionals, or even lay rescuers, may be trained in basic life support (BLS), especially cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR. When a sudden cardiac arrest occurs, immediate CPR is a vital link in the chain of survival . Another important link is early defibrillation , which has improved greatly with the widespread availability of AEDs .

8. Conculsion These courses have been designed to teach the role of the health care provider and the community by stander within the emergency cardiac care system. The ultimate goal of these courses is that the participant be alble to recognize and emergency and be competent and confident enough to perform CPR, which includes the use of an automated external defibrillator as appropriate.

9. ACLS courses are designed only for health care providers who have extensive medical training in the treatment of cardio pulmonary emergencies.