Best Practices for Advanced Cardiac Life Support

The American Heart Association has published minor but relevant updates to its resuscitation guidelines.

Sponsoring Organization: American Heart Association (AHA)

Background

In 2020, the AHA published advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) guidelines (Circulation 2020; 142:Suppl 2:S366). The organization now has updated those guidelines after systematically reviewing and incorporating literature on ACLS published after 2020. The guidelines delineate best practices in resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care to achieve return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) with favorable neurological outcomes.

Key Recommendations

The AHA committee recommends the following:

Temperature control:
- Provide temperature control for all adults who do not follow commands after ROSC.
- Fever prevention (maintaining temperature ≤37.5°C) is more important than cooling to a…

Reviewing Author

Daniel D. Dressler, MD, MSc, MHM, FACP

Disclosures

RoyaltiesMcGraw-Hill; Elsevier

Editorial BoardsMedical Clinics of North America; Caribbean Medical Journal International Advisory Panel (2021–2026)