You are the team leader on the Cardiac Arrest team. What are your roles and what are the priorities of cardiac arrest management which you must help implement?
a) The roles of the team leader include:
1) Ensure that the priorities of management are carried out effectively and efficiently.
Coordinate defibrillation, intubation cannulation and drug administration
2) Help establish a diagnosis by ECG and physical examination and by obtaining all available history from hospital notes and bystanders.
3) Check resuscitation status ( ?DNR) and prognosis
4) Order investigations
5) Reassess response to treatment
6) Communicate with admitting consultant
7) Ensure family is notified
8) Organise post resuscitation care
b) Priorities of cardiac arrest management may be best listed by drawing a sensible algorithm
(preferably AHA 2000 0r ILCOR 1999). The list should include
- immediate basic life support
- rapid rhythm diagnosis
- defibrillation for VF, intubation/adrenaline for asystole or PEA
- continued drug and defibrillation management
- effective post –resuscitation care
According to the ARC statement, the team leader is responsible for:
To this, one might add the following responsibilities:
ARC statement: Standards for Resuscitation: Clinical Practice and
Education
Hunziker, Sabina, et al. "Teamwork and leadership in cardiopulmonary resuscitation." Journal of the American College of Cardiology 57.24 (2011): 2381-2388.