Course covers ACLS for experienced providers

The Advanced Cardiac Life Support-Experienced Provider (ACLS-EP) course is especially designed for providers whose jobs require the regular use of ACLS skills, says Rebecca L. Stark-Johnson, CRNA, APNP, anesthesia manager at Fort Atkinson (WI) Memorial Health Services, and a regional faculty instructor for the Dallas-based American Heart Association’s ACLS program.

"To take the course, you should be very familiar with the basic algorithms, and have taken multiple re-recognition programs," she explains. "Also, your work situation should have the availability of medications not routinely used in ACLS, but indicated in the ACLS-EP scenarios, such as magnesium and glucagon."

Candidates with those qualifications include ED nurses and physicians, critical care nurses, and some paramedics who practice in very busy situations, says Stark-Johnson. The course focuses on the current ACLS text with emphasis on the chapters involving acute coronary syndromes, acute stroke, and special situations, she adds. It begins with a period of testing on the Heartsaver automated external defibrillator and ACLS core content, says Stark-Johnson. "Each participant then rotates through the four skills/discussion stations."

The course is designed to challenge and educate experienced providers in more advanced concepts, says Darlene Bradley, RN, MSN, MAOM, CCRN, CEN, director of emergency/trauma services at UCI Medical Center at University of California-Irvine. "In order to enroll in the course, a candidate must already have an ACLS provider card," she adds. Course contents include metabolic or electrolyte imbalances, drug overdoses, and hypothermia, notes Bradley.

Current goals in ACLS are to provide a standardized approach to care based on a primary and secondary assessment, says Bradley. "The trend is to move away from the rhythm-based approach."

The ACLS-EP course highlights this concept by focusing on prearrest conditions and their corresponding interventions, says Bradley. "Many times, if an appropriate intervention is given, a full arrest could be prevented," she stresses.