PALS Post-Arrest Care
Return of circulation in a child is only the start. The hours after cardiac arrest decide how well the brain and heart recover, and post-arrest care is taught as its own topic on the PALS course.
The priorities
Oxygen to normal saturation (avoiding both low and excessively high levels), ventilation to normal CO2, avoiding low blood pressure for age, controlling temperature and avoiding fever, checking glucose, treating seizures and transferring to intensive care.
Titrate oxygen to keep saturations in the normal range and avoid hyperoxia; ventilate to a normal CO2, using capnography where available — see capnography.
Avoid hypotension for age — see thresholds by age — using fluids and vasoactive infusions as needed. Myocardial dysfunction is common after arrest.
Most paediatric arrests follow respiratory failure or shock; the cause needs definitive treatment — see the arrest algorithm.
Transfer to a PICU with an experienced team, and keep the family informed throughout — family presence and communication are part of good paediatric resuscitation. See PALS for PICU teams and, for adults, ACLS post-arrest care.
This guide summarises what the PALS course teaches, for education only. It is not a clinical protocol: follow the current American Heart Association guidelines, linked below, and your institution’s paediatric policies.
Other life support and first aid courses: BLS Course · ACLS Course · First Aid Course · Training calendar
Normal saturations, avoiding both hypoxia and excessive oxygen, as taught on the course.
Fever can worsen brain injury.
Hypoglycaemia is common and harmful in children.
In a paediatric intensive care unit.
Yes.
Paediatric emergencies are learned by doing. Safety First Medical Services is an American Heart Association training centre on Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, with HeartCode, classroom and on-site PALS and a two-year AHA PALS Provider eCard.
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What we teach follows the awarding body and the UAE health authorities. For the definitive position on a course or licensing question, these are the places to check.
Last reviewed by the training team at Safety First Medical Services, an American Heart Association training centre at Addax Office Tower, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi. Call +971 55 761 9841 or email training@safetyfirstmed.ae.