What is Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)?
PALS training benefits pediatric healthcare providers as they treat critically ill children and infants. But what is the American Heart Association’s PALS?
Advanced Care for Critical Child and Infant Patients
Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) is specialized training for emergency care of children and infants from the American Heart Association. PALS includes everything from Basic Life Support training and Advanced Life Support training but with the unique considerations required for small children and infants.
A PALS provider will be able to recognize and treat infants and children who are at risk of cardiopulmonary arrest and provide a systematic approach to pediatric assessment.
PALS prepares a healthcare provider for effective respiratory management and defibrillation and synchronized cardioversion. Opening the airways of small children and infants is critical during the initial response of a life-threatening emergency. CPR techniques and effective resuscitation team dynamics are also critical.
Specifics for the PALS Course
Pediatric healthcare providers who are trained in PALS will have the necessary skills to improve outcomes for critically ill or injured children. Realistic, clinical scenarios in the course encourage the students to actively participate. Life-like simulations make the experience more real and prepare the students for actual situations.
Hands-on training and comprehensive pediatric videos ensure that PALS participants are able to take their new knowledge and skills into the real world. PALS providers will be able to differentiate between respiratory distress and failure; between unstable and stable patients with arrhythmias; and between compensated and decompensated (hypotensive) shock.
PALS also prepares the pediatric healthcare professional with early intervention techniques for treating respiratory distress and failure and shock. High-quality child CPR-AED and infant CPR are critical skills for the PALS provider.
And finally, PALS trains healthcare professionals with team dynamics and post-cardiac arrest management. The PALS course leaves medical providers with the necessary skills and training for advanced care of critically ill or injured infants and children. This is valuable for field emergency medical services providers and nurses.
This American Heart Association course has been redesigned to reflect the new science evidence in the 2005 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC and features new teaching methodology. Register for the PALS course online or contact us for more information and to register at 561-586-0121.
