Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) course offered by American Heart Association was provided to Pharm.D Interns on 27th & 28th July 2016 at Rajendra Auditorium JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysore. The ACLS guidelines were provided to the students one month prior to the course. The guidelines highlighted a set of clinical interventions for the immediate treatment of cardiac arrest, stroke and other life threatening medical emergencies as well as knowledge and skills to apply those interventions. The guidelines were set into several groups of algorithms or instructions that are followed to standardize treatment, and increase its effectiveness. The various algorithms in the guidelines were Cardiac Arrest Algorithm, Acute Coronary Syndromes Algorithm, PEA/Asystole Algorithm, VF/Pulseless VT Algorithm, Bradycardia Algorithm, Tachycardia Algorithms, and Suspected Stroke Algorithm. During the course, the students got training in essential skills individually, as part of a team, and as team leader in different learning stations based on simulated clinical scenarios. Realistic simulations were focused on the following key concepts: proficiency in basic life support care, recognizing and initiating early management of peri-arrest conditions, managing cardiac arrest, identifying and treating ischemic chest pain and acute coronary syndromes, recognizing other life-threatening clinical situations such as stroke and providing initial care, ACLS algorithms and effective resuscitation team dynamics. At the end of the course, students appeared for a written test to evaluate the knowledge on clinical interventions for the emergency management of life threatening conditions. Only those students who passed the written test were required to participate in a Megacode testing station which evaluated the achievement of the course objectives by the student. The students who successfully completed the course were provided with American Heart Association Advanced Cardiac Life Support certification card.
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