Pharmacotherapy Considerations for Inpatient Advanced Cardiac Life Support

Required reading for all learners: Implicit Bias impacts patient outcomes

High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation and early defibrillation of shockable rhythms are the most effective interventions for improving survival rates and long-term clinical outcomes. Additional interventions include establishing intravenous (IV) access for medication administration. Nevertheless, medications remain a fundamental component of advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) and are the focus of this review. Epinephrine, amiodarone, and lidocaine are the only 3 medications currently recommended within the AHA’s adult cardiac arrest algorithm. Unlike amiodarone and lidocaine, epinephrine has a place in the algorithm both for shockable rhythms (ventricular fibrillation [VF] and pulseless ventricular tachycardia [VT]) and for nonshockable rhythms (asystole and pulseless electrical activity). A review of commonly used medications for cardiac arrest management that fall outside the AHA algorithm i included.