How to Save a Life

Abstract

OPEN ACCESSMarch 4, 2009How to Save a Life Douglas Ander, MD, Katherine Heilpern, MD Douglas Ander, MD Emory University School of Medicine Google Scholar More articles by this author , Katherine Heilpern, MD Emory University School of Medicine Google Scholar More articles by this author https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.383 SectionsAbout ToolsDownload Citations ShareFacebookTwitterEmail AbstractAbstract Introduction: Students should be able to institute lifesaving maneuvers effectively for airway compromise, lethal arrhythmias, or a choking patient. If these maneuvers cannot be instituted effectively, the patient will not survive past the first 4–6 minutes. At the Emory University School of Medicine, all third-year medical students receive a weeklong orientation prior to starting their clinical rotations. As part of the orientation, students are required to participate in this half-day course on how to save a life. Methods: This resource consists of lectures and hands-on mannequin training. The main objective is to teach lifesaving techniques that would support a critically ill patient for the first several minutes of a cardiac or airway emergency. Content validity was established by a group of educators at the Emory University School of Medicine. Content is based on national life-support courses and internal expertise. Results: Our initial work, published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine as a letter, described improvements in student comfort with the skills. A more recent study was presented at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Annual Meeting in May 2006 showing that with the initial training, students were able to achieve 100% competency in the skills. We retested a subset of students approximately 18 months after the initial training and noted a decrease in competency, especially in recognition and treatment of ventricular fibrillation and pediatric choking. This was likely related to a lack of clinical experience demonstrated in the study. The resource contains a copy of the poster with these data. Discussion: With 2 half-day sessions utilizing a total of 10 faculty each, we have been able to train 105 students. This allows us to have a 1:4–6 faculty:student ratio. Fewer faculty are need if the ratio is adjusted higher. Educational Objectives By the end of this course, learners will be able to: Recognize and defibrillate ventricular fibrillation/unstable ventricular tachycardia.Understand the basic airway management skills (open airway, place nasal trumpet, apply a bag valve mask for respiration).Understand adult cardiopulmonary resuscitation.Use the automatic external defibrillator.Understand the management of the choking child. Sign up for the latest publications from MedEdPORTAL Add your email below FILES INCLUDEDReferencesRelatedDetails FILES INCLUDED Included in this publication: Mini ACLS.pdf To view all publication components, extract (i.e., unzip) them from the downloaded .zip file. Download editor’s noteThis publication may contain technology or a display format that is no longer in use. Copyright & Permissions© 2009 Ander and Heilpern. This is an open-access publication distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license.KeywordsVentricular FibrillationCPRAEDIntubationLethal ArrhythmiasCardiopulmonary ResuscitationDefibrillatorsAirway Management Disclosures None to report. Funding/Support None to report. Prior Presentations Presented at: AAMC Research in Medical Education (RIME) Conference; 2004. Presented at: Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Annual Meeting; May 2006. Loading ...