What are the five components of the pediatric chain of survival?
The pediatric chain of survival comprises five components, including prevention and early recognition of cardiac arrest, early access (activation of emergency medical system [EMS]), early high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), early defibrillation, and effective advanced life support and post-cardiac arrest care (Fig. 1)...
What is the pediatric chain of survival for cardiac arrest?
The pediatric chain of survival includes prevention as the first step since cardiac arrest in children and infants typically occurs due to preventable problems. In addition to heart problems, some of the common causes of cardiac arrest in children are respiratory issues, infections, and trauma.
What is the out-of-hospital cardiac chain of survival?
The out-of-hospital Cardiac Chain of Survival includes the following links: The activation of emergency response - the recognition of cardiac arrest and the activation of the emergency response system. High-quality CPR - early CPR with an emphasis on high-quality chest compressions. Defibrillation.
What is the chain of survival and defibrillation?
The chain of survival lays out how someone can take immediate action in quick, easy-to-remember steps. The chain of survival stresses that bystanders do not need any medical training to take these steps. Anyone can initiate the chain of survival and save a life. Why is Defibrillation Important?
What is the first step in the Pediatric Chain of Survival?
The first and most important step of the Pediatric Chain of Survival is prevention (Figure 2).
Does BLS increase survival?
Early initiation of BLS has been shown to increase the probability of survival for a person dealing with cardiac arrest.
Why is the cardiac chain of survival important?
However, it is even more important to focus on eliminating any fears you might have that could cause indecision and delays in executing these steps quickly and correctly.
What is the chain of survival?
- The term cardiac chain of survival is a metaphor that the American Heart Association uses to describe the events that need to occur in order to increase the chance of survival from cardiac arrest. The idea is that each step is a critical link as the links in a chain. Now, we all know that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If there are any weak links in the chain or any delays in moving from one link to the other the chain of survival will be greatly reduced. It's important to remember that maximizing one's best chance of survival and recovery from sudden cardiac arrest is dependent upon a strong chain of survival. The out-of-hospital chain of survival includes these following links. One, recognition of cardiac arrest and activating the emergency response system. Two, early CPR with an emphasis on high-quality chest compressions. Three, defibrillation. Four, advanced resuscitation by emergency medical services and other healthcare providers. Five, post-cardiac arrest care. Six, recovery, which includes additional treatment, observation, rehabilitation, and psychological support. Now for the in-hospital chain of survival there's a slight variation. The first link is early recognition and prevention of sudden cardiac arrest. Two is to activate the emergency response system followed by early CPR with an emphasis on high-quality chest compressions, of course defibrillation, and then followed with post-cardiac care and recovery. The chain of survival may be a helpful tool to organize the steps of care. However, we believe it is even more important to focus on eliminating the fears that cause delays in these steps or that keep people from getting involved in rescue in the first place. Even after decades of CPR training being readily available, the biggest problem we find is that people are not doing CPR wrongly, it's that people are not doing CPR enough. Almost all of the reasons people fail to rescue can be categorized into five fears. Please watch our Five Fears video to learn more on how you can remove the fears of getting involved in rescuing someone and providing care to give that person their best chance at survival.
What is high quality CPR?
High-quality CPR - early CPR with an emphasis on high-quality chest compression.
What is the activation of emergency response?
The activation of emergency response - the recognition of cardiac arrest and the activation of the emergency response system.
Is a chain of survival weak?
Now, we all know that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If there are any weak links in the chain or any delays in moving from one link to the other the chain of survival will be greatly reduced. It's important to remember that maximizing one's best chance of survival and recovery from sudden cardiac arrest is dependent ...
What is the chain of survival?
Originally it consisted of four steps, in this order: early access to emergency medical care, early CPR, early defibrillation and early advanced cardiac life support. The addition of a recovery step is the first change to the cardiac arrest chain of survival since integrated post-cardiac arrest hospital care was added in 2010.
What is the recovery step for cardiac arrest?
For cardiac arrest, the recovery step begins as soon as the patient wakes up after the life-altering event. As part of the process, hospitals assemble teams that patients and their families meet with before discharge to discuss dietary, lifestyle and physical changes. The patient may see a dietician or get introduced to a therapist (physical, occupational and/or speech) and a family counselor. A survivorship plan is developed that identifies holistic health requirements and resources for that time when the patient is able to leave the hospital.
What is the Red Cross?
The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.
Does the Red Cross have a recovery step for cardiac arrest?
To better reflect these realities, the Red Cross has updated its cardiac arrest chains of survival to add a “recovery” step. Survival rates from cardiac arrest – whether in-hospital or out-of-hospital – are now simply one measure of success.