The Australian and New Zealand Committee on Resuscitation (ANZCOR) has released a new set of Paediatric Life Support guidelines.
The new five guideline set is condensed from the previous seven paediatric guidelines and includes a new guideline (12.1) focusing on provision of paediatric basic life support (PBLS) by health professionals responsible for the care of infants and children in the pre-hospital or hospital setting.
The other guidelines include:
- ANZCOR Guideline 12.2 – Paediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS): This guideline merges content from previous Guidelines 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4 and elements of 12.6 into a single guideline focused upon the acute resuscitative phase of paediatric ALS.
- ANZCOR Guideline 12.3 – Management of other (non-arrest) arrythmias in infants and children: This guideline includes new content in addition to content from previous Guidelines 12.5.
- ANZCOR Guideline 12.4 – Paediatric resuscitation in special circumstances: This guideline includes new content in addition to content from previous Guidelines 12.6.
- ANZCOR Guideline 12.5 – Management after Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC): This guideline is an update from previous Guideline 12.7 and is focused upon care in the post- resuscitative phase after paediatric cardiac arrest.
In addition to the updated Paediatric Life Support guideline set some of the practice updates in this round of guidelines include:
- A de-emphasis of the value of pulse check as a determinant of the need to commence CPR;
- Continuing support for the use of conventional CPR over chest compression only CPR (with data from large registry studies showing better outcomes when ventilations are provided) especially for children;
- Stronger support for the continued use of BVM ventilation during CPR (rather than interrupting chest compressions for ETT or supraglottic airway insertion); and
- Updated terminology regarding active control of temperature in children achieving ROSC after arrest, with an emphasis on strict avoidance of hyperthermia.
For more information about the new guidelines visit resus.org.au/guidelines/