Pearls

The most important person in a code is the one doing chest compressions.

A thready pulse is not a reason to stop CPR!  The American Heart Association suggests CPR until a strong, bounding pulse can be easily palpated.

Sometimes during resuscitation, the patient’s heart will transiently slip from an un-shockable rhythm to a shockable rhythm, and suddenly back to an un-shockable rhythm. In order to catch this shockable rhythm, the person manning the defibrillator should keep the paddles/pads charged throughout the process, and should re-charge the paddles/pads immediately after shocking in order to be ready.

Asystolic patients who receive electrical shocks do WORSE than those who do not. Remember, asystole is not a shockable rhythm.

Calcium and sodium bicarbonate are at the bottom of the ventricular fibrillation algorithm, but maybe they shouldn’t be? Consider giving both early in your resuscitation.