• David B Seder, Christine Lord, and David J Gagnon.
• David B. Seder is director of neurocritical care at Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine, and an associate professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts. Christine Lord is a staff nurse and the unit-based educator for the cardiac intensive care unit at Maine Medical Center. David J. Gagnon is a critical care pharmacist at Maine Medical Center and a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. sederd@mmc.org.
• Am. J. Crit. Care. 2016 Nov 1; 25 (6): 556-564.

AbstractThe postresuscitation period after a cardiac arrest is characterized by a wide range of physiological derangements. Variations between patients include preexisting medical problems, the underlying cause of the cardiac arrest, presence or absence of hemodynamic and circulatory instability, severity of the ischemia-reperfusion injury, and resuscitation-related injuries such as pulmonary aspiration and rib or sternal fractures. Although protocols can be applied to many elements of postresuscitation care, the widely disparate clinical condition of cardiac arrest survivors requires an individualized approach that stratifies patients according to their clinical profile and targets specific treatments to patients most likely to benefit. This article describes such an individualized approach, provides a practical framework for evaluation and triage at the bedside, and reviews concerns specific to all members of the interprofessional postresuscitation care team.©2016 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

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