Abstract
In October of 2010, the American Heart Association (AHA) published the 2010 Guidelines
on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. These guidelines
place significant emphasis on 5 major areas of therapy in patient with cardiac arrest,
including immediate recognition and activation of the emergency response team, effective
chest compressions, rapid defibrillation, effective advanced life support (ALS), and
integrated postresuscitation care. “Effective ALS” includes the placement of an advanced
airway, establishment of parenteral access, and the administration of cardioactive
medications. Advanced life support encompasses only 1 of these 5 major areas of cardiac
arrest intervention—in sharp contrast to past renditions of the AHA guidelines in
which ALS was significantly emphasized. In fact, recent research and the AHA guidelines
note that ALS therapy is less important than previously thought. This article will
briefly review the evidence regarding the use of the 5 principal medications—epinephrine,
vasopressin, atropine, lidocaine, and amiodarone—used in Advanced Cardiac Life Support
cardiac arrest algorithm.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: June 13, 2011
Accepted:
April 12,
2011
Received in revised form:
April 10,
2011
Received:
February 6,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
