CPR - Basic Life Support saves lives, but what about adrenaline?

Basic life support (BLS) has been linked to better patient outcomes and yet adrenaline often is the first drug that springs to mind! This session will provide a refresher for the essentials of basic life support in line with current RECOVER Guidelines. Once these have been recapped, we will move onto the Advanced Life Support (ALS) section of the RECOVER algorithm.

Starting with monitoring and what we should be prioritising before moving onto the part that can seem the most intimidating, drugs. Which drugs should we be considering first? Where does adrenaline and atropine fit in to this? Plus discussing their pharmacological effects on the body. Finally, the changes to the RECOVER Algorithm will be discussed, including why in the human sector adrenaline is used with caveats.

• Confidently describe the steps in BLS and describe how to carry these out
• Develop an understanding of ALS and recognise when reversals are appropriate
• Explore the drug choices after reversals, understand how these work during a crash and identify the potential challenges with these drugs.