Circulation
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Optimizing the links in the Chain of Survival improves outcomes and saves lives. The use of evidence-based education and implementation strategies will allow organizations and communities to strengthen these links in the most effective and efficient manner.
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Review Practice Guideline
Part 9: post-cardiac arrest care: 2010 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care.
The goal of immediate post-cardiac arrest care is to optimize systemic perfusion, restore metabolic homeostasis, and support organ system function to increase the likelihood of intact neurological survival. The post-cardiac arrest period is often marked by hemodynamic instability as well as metabolic abnormalities. Support and treatment of acute myocardial dysfunction and acute myocardial ischemia can increase the probability of survival. ⋯ The comprehensive treatment of diverse problems after cardiac arrest involves multidisciplinary aspects of critical care, cardiology, and neurology. For this reason, it is important to admit patients to appropriate critical-care units with a prospective plan of care to anticipate, monitor, and treat each of these diverse problems. It is also important to appreciate the relative strengths and weaknesses of different tools for estimating the prognosis of patients after cardiac arrest.
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In summary, the evidence review process has attempted to provide a systematic review of the scientific literature using a priori defined methods. The details and steps of the literature review are transparent and replicable. External opinions and community critique are highly valued, and the final products represent the combined labor of hundreds of participants.