YOU COULD PREVENT A CARDIAC ARREST It is estimated that by 2030 more than 23 million people will die annually

from Cardio Vascular Diseases(CVD).1 Largest-ever study of deaths shows heart ailments have replaced communicable diseases as the biggest killer in rural & urban India. The results are surprising because they indicate a reversal in disease patterns in the country from communicable diseases to non- communicable or lifestyle diseases. About 25 per cent of deaths in the age group of 25- 69 years occur because of heart diseases. If all age groups are included, heart diseases account for about 19 per cent of all deaths In India.2 CVD causes 47% of all deaths in Europe and 40% in the EU.3 Coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease, killing more than 385,000 people in US annually.4 The theoretical knowledge and practical skills of the Basic Life Support (BLS) and the Advanced CardiacLife Support (ACLS) are among the most important determining factors of the cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR) success rates.5 Some studies have shown the presence of at least one professional trained in ACLS increase the survival of cardiac arrest victims6. Dane et al reported increase of the survival in around four times when the Nursing professional was trained in ACLS7. Sampaio et al assessed the teaching-learning process of nursing professional in CPR maneuvers and verified failures both in theoretical knowledge and in practical skills. 8 Verplancke et al researched the possible causes of low quality of the BLS and found that the rate of participation in cardiac arrest assistances had influence on the assistance performance9. In a study that assessed the education needs of nurses in Australia, 91.4% of them pointed out the cardiac arrest as a highly important area10. Anupam Shrivastava et al conducted a studyon all health care professionals to evaluate the impact of the American Heart Association (AHA)-certified basic life support (BLS) and advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) provider course on the outcomes of CPR in a tertiary care hospital in India which showed a 28.3% in the return of spontaneous circulation in postBLS/ACLS training period compared to 18.3% in pre-BLS/ACLS training period .The study also showed that Survival to hospital discharge was also significantly higher in the post-BLS/ACLS training period (69.1%)than in the pre-BLS/ACLS training period (23.1%) .11 Wayne,et al., conducted a Longitudinal Study of Internal Medicine Residents Retention of Advanced Cardiac Life Support Skills. The study proved that the Use of a simulation-based educational program enabled to achieve and maintain high levels of resident performance in simulated ACLS events.12 Nursing professionals are usually the first to witness a cardiac arrest at the hospital. They are those who frequently call the assistance team.13 These data confirm the need for structuring continuing education in health as a tool which will contribute to improve the CPR success rates. Thus, these professionals need to have updated

technical knowledge and practical skills in BLS and ACLS to contribute more efficiently to cardiac arrest maneuvers.

References 1. Available from

http://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/en/

2. Available from http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/India's+no.1+killer:+Heart+disease/1/92422.html 3. Available from

http://www.escardio.org/about/what/advocacy/EuroHeart/Pages/2012-CVD-statistics.aspx

4. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm 5. Filgueiras Filho NM, Bandeira AC, Delmondes T, Oliveira A, Lima Jr AS, Cruz V, et al. Avaliao do conhecimento geral de mdicos emergencistas de hospitais de Salvador Bahia sobre o atendimento de vtimas com parada cardiorrespiratria. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2006; 87: 634-40 6. Moretti MA. Eficcia do treinamento em suporte avanado de vida nos resultados das manobras de ressuscitao cardiopulmonar [Tese]. So Paulo: Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de So Paulo; 2001. 7. Dane FC, Russell-Lindgren KS, Parish DC, Durham MD, Brown TD. In-hospital resuscitation: association between ACLS training and survival to discharge. Resuscitation. 2000; 47: 83-7. 8. Sampaio LABN. Avaliao do processo ensino-aprendizagem da tcnica de ressuscitao cardiopulmonar pela equipe de enfermagem [Tese]. Ribeiro Preto: Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeiro Preto, Universidade de So Paulo; 2003. 9. Verplancke T, De Paepe P, Calle PA, De Regge M, Van Maele G, Monsieurs KG. Determinants of the quality of basic life support by hospital nurses. Resuscitation. 2008; 77 (1): 75-80. 10. Pascoe T, Hutchinson R, Foley E, Watts I, Whitecross L, Snowdon T. The educational needs of nurses working in Australian general practices. Aust J Adv Nurs. 2007; 24 (3): 33-7. 11. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3271556/ 12. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17001145 13. Gombotz H, Weh B, Mitterndorfer W, Rehak P. In-hospital cardiac resuscitation outside the ICU by nursing staff equipped with automated external defibrillators - the first 500 cases. Resuscitation. 2006; 70 (3): 416-22.