Resuscitation skills
Recognising and responding to the critically ill or injured patient is an essential skill for all health professionals. Emergencies can occur at any time and without warning :
- The patient with an unexpected anaphylactic reaction in the X-ray department or general practice surgery
- The child who is not breathing after falling into a neighbours pool
- The victims in the car accident that occurs on the way to work.
- The unconscious patient who arrives at hospital in the back a car following a drug overdose
What happens in the first few minutes can have major implications for whether a patient survives or dies or lives with permanent disability. In this section the focus is on the first few minutes - recognising the signs of critical illness and responding to threats to vital organ function.
Most emergencies can be effectively managed with a set of basic equipment all of which should be readily available in medical settings - bag and mask, oropharyngeal airway, oxygen, suction, IV cannula, normal saline and a limited set of drugs (which should include adrenaline, atropine, midazolam, ventolin). A defibrillator can be life saving and with the introduction of the Automatic electrical defibrillators (AEDs) is now more widely available.
To illustrate the core principles and practical skills required for resuscitation a series of clinical cases are described. Although the majority of the cases are set in an emergency department the principles of assessment and resuscitation are applicable to wherever the emergency occurs. Common procedures used in resuscitation are described using text, photographs and short videos. These are designed to complement formal training in the skill (eg as part of a training workshop) or to enable those already trained to review the skill.
The course covers
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Adult basic and advanced life support
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Paediatric basic and advanced life support
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The Primary survey
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Airway - basic and advanced airway management
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Breathing - management of hypoventilation / respiratory distress
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Circulation - management of circulatory shock, options for IV access
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Disability - management of the unconscious patient, fitting patient