By Tamika Quinn


If they consider undertaking training in acls Houston residents need to be well informed beforehand to know what is required of them. Advanced Cardiac Life Support or ACLS is a set of clinical interventions done to resuscitate a patient who has had a stroke, cardiac or pulmonary arrest. The aim of this intervention is to prevent deterioration and to restore normal cardiac and pulmonary function.

Training in Advanced Cardiac Life Support is very important for healthcare professionals. This is because they are most likely to be faced with these situations in their everyday life. Knowledge of Advanced Cardiac Life Support protocols may turn out to be life-saving in most of these situations. Most hospitals ensure that persons working in critical care, emergency medicine and intensive care units take the course.

Students undertaking the course are expected to gain a basic minimum of skills and knowledge as regards to the ability to respond to medical emergencies. They should be competent in giving quality chest compressions, using the bag and mask appropriately, maintaining a patent airway and playing an active role in a resuscitative team as members or team leaders. Prompt recognition and management of respiratory and cardiac arrest is very important.

The course typically takes between ten and twelve hours. The participant is expected to pick the relevant skills during this time, practise them and his or her competencies are tested at the end. Retraining takes about five to six hours for persons that wish to renew their certificates. For proper learning to take place, each individual trainer should not handle more than six students with two manikins at any one given time.

Various stations are set up by the trainers. A student is expected to acquire a particular skill in each of these stations. Students are presented with various clinical scenarios in which they are expected to apply the skills that have been learnt. Active participation of the students greatly helps in the reinforcement of both the skills and the knowledge. In a classroom setting, group interaction may be adopted and collection of feedback done by the instructors.

Once the course has been completed successfully, the participant is issued with a course completion card. To get this card, students need to demonstrate skills competency in the required stations, they have to pass the CPR and AED skills and should also be skilled in bag and mask ventilation. An additional requirement is that they must pass a Megacode test as well as a written test. The card is valid for two years beyond which a renewal course must be undertaken.

To remain updated with the most current protocols, qualified persons are advised to attend continuous medical education courses. The American Heart Association, AHA, offer a number of these courses on a regular basis. AHA is accredited by the CECBEMS, Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services to offer these courses. There are other providers whose charges vary although some suggestions on pricing are made by the AHA.

There are two internationally recognised types of acls Houston residents may choose to be trained in. They include the ACLS experienced provider and the HeartCode ACLS. Both are equally demanding with the learner required to gain a huge amount of knowledge and to be very competent in the required skills. Basic Life Support training is recognised as an important component of ACLS and persons who wish to have training of ACLS will be well advised to first get training in BLS.




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