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ACLS Seattle

ACLS Certification Classes in Seattle

CPR Northwest Washington, a premier provider of lifesaving-skills courses for healthcare professionals, offers CPR, AED, First Aid, and Healthcare Provider BLS CPR classes. And now we’ve broadened our offerings to meet the growing healthcare demand for Seattle ACLS classes.

Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) training has as its sole purpose equipping medical professionals with in-depth, thoroughgoing knowledge of advanced life support. The CPR Northwest Washington ACLS training course in Seattle includes training in both drug therapy and team dynamics to improve patient outcomes. Most healthcare professionals are passionate about reducing disability and mortality rates resulting from heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. ACLS is simply a natural outgrowth of that passion.

What Is ACLS?

The first thing to understand is that these lifesaving techniques are incremental, with each building on the previous more-basic one, like this:

  • CPR – Techniques to get the heart beating again in order to get blood circulating to provide oxygen to the brain and other organs during the wait for the Emergency Medical System
  • CPR AED – CPR with the addition of the use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) when basic CPR proves ineffective
  • BLS – Builds on CPR AED and includes relieving respiratory distress, often requiring teamwork and critical thinking
  • ACLS – An advanced form of BLS that includes administration of pharmaceuticals (among other things)

Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), as the name suggests, is a form of emergency life support, but more advanced than mere CPR or even BLS.  And ACLS (Seattle or anywhere else) is intended for emergency professionals and medical personnel who respond to cardiovascular emergencies. Providing ACLS is restricted to qualified, certified providers because they have be able to do any or all of the following:

  • Administer CPR, CPR AED, and/or BLS
  • Manage the victim’s airway
  • Initiate IV access
  • Read/interpret electrocardiograms (ECGs)
  • Understand and administer emergency pharmaceuticals

Basic CPR, of course, is the foundation, providing a critical link in the chain of survival, with defibrillation (CPR AED) providing the next link along with BLS. And then if these don’t do the job, ACLS follows.

The initial stages of ACLS often involve analysis of a patient’s heart rhythms by means of a manual defibrillator. The leader of the ACLS team (not the machine itself as with BLS) makes the decision whether and when to administer the heart shock. After that comes insertion of IV and clearing of airways. Then, if the situation warrants it, drugs such as epinephrine and/or amiodarone are administered. The ACLS professionals also have to determine cause(s) of the cardiac arrest in order to initiate measures for possible reversal, such as giving antidotes by IV for drug overdoses.

And all of this, obviously, requires extensive special training and ACLS certification (Seattle).

How Is ACLS Training Different from BLS Training?

ACLS training (Seattle and most other areas as well) differs from Basic Life Support (BLS) training in four key areas: who it is for (audience), the medical knowledge involved, the role of pharmaceuticals, and the tools used.

Audience – BLS is intended chiefly for first responders, general healthcare providers, and others responsible for public safety like teachers, coaches, and lifeguards. BLS arms them to deal with cardiac arrest and respiratory distress in out-of-hospital situations using manual techniques and AEDs.

ACLS, on the other hand, is designed and intended specifically for healthcare professionals. This group would include doctors, anesthesiologists, nurses, dentists, and paramedics.

Medical knowledge – This is where BLS and ACLS begin to diverge even wider. BLS training doesn’t require any specialized medical knowledge although it can certainly be helpful. But ACLS training requires you to have or acquire, at a minimum, basic foundational medical knowledge. ACLS (Seattle) training participants, for example, will have to be familiar with ECGs and know how to read them.

Pharmaceuticals – BLS training has no component that trains providers on administering pharmaceuticals.  ACLS training and certification, however, do require this. Participants in Seattle ACLS courses will be required to learn about medications and pharmaceuticals, as well as the situations that call for them, the correct dosages, and how to administer them.

Tools – Both BLS and ACLS training include components on the proper use of an automated external defibrillator. But ACLS training requires instruction in the use of additional tools and devices for certification, includiing ECGs, IV and intubation materials, and emergency-situation analytical algorithms.

What Kind of Jobs in Seattle Require ACLS Certification?

The jobs that require ACLS certification in Seattle, WA, are rapidly growing in number owing to the life-saving potential in critical situations. So all medical professionals working in emergency or critical care units are required to have ACLS training and to be certified. This list of jobs in Seattle that require ACLS certification includes:

  • Many nurses, but RNs certainly
  • Physicians
  • Dentists
  • Pharmacists
  • Respiratory therapists
  • Advanced-practice providers (PAs, NPs)
  • Paramedics (EMT-Ps)

What Does It Take to Get an ACLS Certification?

ACLS (Seattle) certification requires taking the required courses from an accredited and AHA-approved provider of ACLS training and then taking and passing the appropriate certification exams. The training components include:

  • Mastery of BLS
  • Learning to recognize and manage cardiac and other respiratory arrest situations
  • Leading and supporting a resuscitation team
  • Mastering airway management skills
  • Understanding the pharmacology of ACLS
  • Recognizing and evaluating strokes and acute coronary syndromes

A major portion of training for ACLS Seattle certification involves studying standard case scenarios, the ones you are most likely to encounter in your career as a healthcare provider. These, however, are constantly changing owing to updates growing out of ongoing research, testing, and analysis. The goal is to help you understand and recognize signs and symptoms in order to provide appropriate treatment.

Additionally, a large part of the training entails memorization of various algorithms used for diagnostic purposes. Really, though, these are procedural flowcharts and are more manageable than it sounds. The main algorithms are:

  • Adult BLS
  • Acute coronary syndromes
  • Adult cardiac arrest
  • Adult Bradycardia
  • Adult suspected stroke
  • Adult tachycardia
  • Immediate post-cardiac arrest care
  • Unstable tachycardia
  • Opiod-associated life-threatening emergency

Another aspect of training is learning and memorizing medications and doses (along with the corresponding algorithms) appropriate in various emergency situations. This is critical, for the wrong medication or improper dosage can have disastrous results.

The final major component of ACLS training for certification is the portion in which you learn to read and understand and respond to ECG results. A patient’s or victim’s heart rhythms are key elements in knowing how to provide appropriate treatment.

Once you’ve completed the classroom, practice, and hands-on components of the training, you take your exams. And when you pass, you’ll receive your certification. It’s often recommended that if you are completely unfamiliar with ECGs, you should take an ECG course prior to beginning ACLS Seattle certification training.

What Is the Renewal Process for an ACLS Certification?

You do have to keep your ACLS certification current in Seattle. Generally, this just means taking an ACLS provider renewal class. These are designed for people whose certification has not expired and are seeking to renew their card before the expiration date. Often, though, if your card does expire, you are allowed a 30-day grace period to renew. Renewal still requires demonstration of knowledge of rhythms, pharmacology, and algorithms, and you are required to have a recent AHA ACLS Provider Manual. Renewed ACLS cards are good for two years.

It does sometimes happen, though, that people let their cards expire for longer periods. In such cases, recertification is required. In most cases, once you’ve been ACLS certified, you most likely won’t have to go through the whole certification training and process again – even if your card has been expired for several years.

What you do have to do is take a recertification course which will then permit reactivation of the expired certification. A recertification course will cover the same material as your initial certification training, but it will not be as expensive and will be less time-consuming. So if you have let your card lapse, recertification is probably your better option.

What Are Some Other Benefits of ACLS Training and ACLS Certification in Seattle?

If your job in Seattle requires ACLS certification, then the benefits are obvious enough. But even if it isn’t required for your job, ACLS certification has multiple benefits, such as:

  • Adds another certification to make you more employable
  • Provides a way to stand out in an increasingly crowded job market
  • Demonstrates a willingness to learn
  • Equips you with in-depth medical and technical knowledge
  • Allows you to save lives

So not only does ACLS Seattle certification equip you to treat cardiac arrest, stroke, and other medical emergencies. It also opens opportunities for career growth and even new careers.

Where Can I Find ACLS Courses in Seattle?

This is an easy one to answer. ACLS Seattle classes can, of course, be found in a number of places, but we think your best option can be found with CPR Northwest Washington.

Just a quick glance at our calender will show you the array of CPR, AED, First Aid, Healthcare Provider BLS CPR classes – as well as ACLS Seattle courses and training – that we offer six days a week morning, afternoons, and evenings. And if we don’t have a class that fits your schedule, just call or email, and we’ll try to schedule a day and time that will work. So make the move toward that healthcare profession you’ve always dreamed about. Contact us today or click on a class on the schedule to register!