respiratory therapists serve as vital members of the healthcare team
this means that they play an important role in emergency cardiovascular life support
when providing emergency care first and foremost rits are responsible for establishing
and maintaining a patient's airway in order to facilitate ventilation and oxygenation they also
assist with pharmacological therapy circulatory support and patient monitoring among many other
duties with that said it's important to develop an understanding of the different types of emergency
life support which is what we are going to discuss in this video so if you're ready let's get into it
first and foremost let's talk about cpr which stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation
it's an emergency medical procedure for life support that involves repeated chest compressions
and artificial ventilation in an effort to restore spontaneous breathing and blood circulation in a
patient who is in cardiac or respiratory arrest bls stands for basic life support and is the most
common type of cpr the reason that is considered to be basic is because it can be performed
without equipment or medications to assist with the immediate survival of a patient who is in
cardiac or pulmonary arrest it involves delivering high quality chest compressions and ventilations
and the use of an aed if necessary bls courses and certifications are required for healthcare
professionals and others who need to know how to perform cardiovascular life support skills
then there is acls which stands for advanced cardiac life support it's an advanced form
of life support for the treatment of cardiac arrest stroke myocardial infarction and other
life-threatening cardiovascular emergencies it's a more advanced type of emergency care
that extends bls capabilities beyond immediate ventilatory and circulatory assistance
some examples of the therapeutic measures that can be performed during acls include intubation and
airway stabilization mechanical ventilation cpr cardioversion defibrillation chest tube insertion
needle decompression central venous catheter placement breathing treatments and oxygen therapy
keep in mind that other therapeutic methods may be performed these are just some of the
most common examples and last but not least there is pals which stands for pediatric
advanced life support pals is similar to acls except it is designed specifically for the
treatment of critically ill infants and children instead of adults the pals program was created
by the american heart association and american academy of pediatrics with a goal of achieving the
best possible outcome for a pediatric patient in emergency situations both acls and pals typically
require a group effort that is performed by a team of doctors nurses and respiratory therapists each
provider is specially trained and should have the proper certification while working in a setting
that may require emergency life support again for this video we just wanted to provide you with a
brief overview of this topic we'll be breaking it down into much more detail in a separate video
and just a reminder this video is for educational and informational purposes only real quick guys do
me a huge favor and hit the like button it really helps support the channel and i greatly greatly
appreciate it and while you're down there go ahead and click the subscribe button as well because we
have a ton of other videos on our channel that i think you will enjoy just a quick reminder we are
not doctors this video is for educational and informational purposes only and if you want to
dive deeper and learn more about this topic you can go to respiratorytherapyzone.com where we
have a ton of free study guides practice questions and other helpful resources
i'll drop links to everything you need right below this video down in the description thank you so
much for watching all the way to the end have a blessed day and as always real easy my friend
you