Heart disease and stroke : a journal for primary care physicians
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The Swan-Ganz catheter provides a relatively easy means of obtaining a wealth of information about intracardiac pressures and flows. The catheter also is useful for intracardiac pacing. Because any invasive procedure entails some risk, albeit small in the case of the Swan-Ganz catheter, insertion of a catheter usually is reserved for hemodynamically unstable patients and/or those in whom information relevant to clinical management can be obtained only by this means. In such circumstances the catheter has been extraordinarily useful, and further refinements undoubtedly will make it even more useful in the future.
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The AHA Committee on Emergency Cardiac Care recommends that all communities strengthen the four links in the chain of survival: Early Access: Install an enhanced 911 emergency dispatch system. Provide certification training to all emergency medical dispatchers. Develop community-wide education and publicity programs that focus on cardiac emergencies and a proper response by citizens. ⋯ Implement more widespread use of automated external defibrillators by community responders and allied health responders. Early Advanced Life Support: Coordinate advanced life support units with first-response units that provide early defibrillation. Develop procedures that combine rapid defibrillation by first-response units with rapid intubation and intravenous medications by the advanced life support units.