Code Blue Training: Life Support Challenges
CE Information
2.0 CE creditsCompletion Time
2 hours, 10 minutesAvailable Until
December 31, 2025Posted By
PESI
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Overview
Subspecialties
CardiovascularClinical Topics
Cardiovascular DiseaseCardiac arrest affects over 600,000 people per year in North America alone. Depending on the circumstances of arrest, only 20 to 40 percent of adults who survive to hospital care after resuscitation from cardiac arrest are discharged alive, the majority of whom enjoy favorable functional recovery. Advances in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and post-cardiac arrest care delivery have improved outcomes over time.
The most immediate threat to survival is cardiovascular collapse. Interventions to optimize blood pressure and maintain brain and other end-organ perfusion (e.g., boluses of intravenous [IV] fluid, vasopressors, and inotropes) can help prevent secondary injury from hypotension. Additional short-term goals during the first hours of care include optimizing oxygenation and ventilation and correcting electrolyte abnormalities.
If the person survives cardiac arrest, management of the post-cardiac arrest patient is also complex and must address multiple major problems simultaneously:
- Initial cardiopulmonary stabilization and prevention of rearrest
- Identification and treatment of reversible causes of cardiac arrest
- Ongoing stabilization and prevention of brain injury
- Early risk stratification
Immediately following resuscitation from cardiac arrest, the patient can develop severe problems due to medical comorbidities, the underlying cause of arrest, and sequelae of global ischemia-reperfusion injury.
In this presentation, you will hear about real-world code blue events. You will also learn about the management of both adult and pediatric code blue scenarios. Highlights will include pharmacology, advanced interventions (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, ECMO; intra-arterial fibrinolytic), and case studies.
Learning Objectives
- Describe three priorities initially in a code blue.
- Discriminate medications used in code blue.
- Identify medication dosing and frequency in code blue.
- State the return of spontaneous circulation outcomes for a patient surviving a code blue.
Speakers
Paul Langlois, APN, PhD, CCRN, CCNS, is a critical care clinical specialist in the surgical, medical, neurologic, burn, CCU, and trauma ICUs of Cook County Hospital, Chicago. Drawing on over 40 years of experience assessing and managing patients with life-threatening diseases, Dr. Langlois provides advanced-level training to nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, and physicians. Dr. Langlois is committed to providing the highest quality of care to patients through advanced education. His presentations are evidence-based, timely, and provide participants with numerous case studies to facilitate critical thinking. As a bedside clinical nurse specialist, he has developed several institution-wide protocols for the multidisciplinary assessment and management of infectious disease and multi-system organ failure patients. His presentations are enthusiastically delivered and offer highly practical tips that help make the most challenging concepts easy to understand. Linking knowledge to clinical practice is the goal of every educational program.
CE Information
This activity offers 2.0 CE credits to attendees.
Accredited by ANCC, ACCME.
Credit eligibility by state, board, and more information can be found here: Code Blue Training: Life Support Challenges
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