Pediatric Advanced Life Support
Learning Pediatric Cardiac Management
Pediatric Advanced Life Support is an advanced program focusing on the management of pediatric victims. It is a training program offered all over world, and has been increasing in popularity in Canada over the past few years. One of the top training providers in the country is Nanaimo First Aid, offering high quality CPR classes at very affordable training rates.
Students who are able to complete training and pass the exams are granted a training credential, renewable through a pediatric advanced CPR refresher course. Credentials expire three years after they are issued; remember to sign up for a refresher class – it’s shorter than the full PALS training program.
If you need advanced training and certification in CPR, you can visit the Nanaimo First Aid training facility today and sign up for our Pediatric Advanced Life Support class. You can also sign up using the form below – no downloads necessary. We will process your request during the next business day so expect a confirmatory call or e-mail from us by then.
Pediatric Management
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a set of skills used to manage cardiac emergencies, specifically cardiac arrest. Managing adults is very different managing children, which is why advanced training has been separated into ACLS and PALS training. The main difference between basic and advanced training is the setting of the emergency. In a basic class, we teach students how to give CPR in an out-of-hospital setting. Advanced classes are targeted towards health care workers, meaning the CPR we teach them is focused on in-hospital emergencies.
When children get heart attacks, it is for a very different reason that a pre-existing cardiac condition. While a percentage of deaths due to heart disease are attributed to children, the larger percentage is attributed to adults. In children, heart attacks are typically caused by respiratory failure – hence the term asphyxial arrest. Aspyxia is a condition where the oxygen levels in the blood are severely depleted. This means that the blood being supplied to the heart has little to no oxygen, which can damage the cardiac tissue and lead to a heart attack.
The Pediatric Advanced Life Support class is 14 hours long, spread out over two days. It has a refresher class available to students who need to renew expired or expiring certificates. The refresher program is only 6 to 8 hours long.
About Pediatric Advanced Life Support training
The PALS concept was created in order to address the difference between the management of adults and children. Because cardiac arrests are respiratory in nature in children and infants, emphasis is placed on ventilations when giving children CPR. Chest compressions are still performed first (from the order C-A-B – circulation, airway, and breathing) but ventilations have to performed as adequately.
If the child is experiencing respiratory problems, allow him or her to assume the most comfortable position for him/her. Children who are in distress often assume the most comfortable position that will promote respiration, such as sitting on the ground with knees bent.
Visit Nanaimo First Aid today to learn how to manage pediatric emergencies!