The 9 ALS triads--an alphabetical checklist for advanced life support providers.

The successful outcome of a resuscitation attempt relies frequently on the performance of many advanced life support interventions. A checklist of 27 procedures, following an alphabetical sequence, is presented as an educational memory aid for healthcare providers.

Basic resuscitation--knowledge and skills of full-time medical practitioners at public hospitals in northern province.

OBJECTIVES: To establish the level of knowledge and skill in basic resuscitation among medical practitioners and to determine the differences in characteristics between those with and those without knowledge and skills. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Public hospitals in Northern Province. SUBJECTS: All the doctors in full-time employment, except interns and those in full-time administration. OUTCOME MEASURES: Practice on manikins using structured interview/evaluation sheet. RESULTS: Of 152 participants, 7 (4.6%) scored 80% and above and 37 (24.3%) scored 50% and above. The medical practitioners who performed better were younger and more likely to have received undergraduate and postgraduate resuscitation training, and resuscitation training within the last 2 years. The country of qualification, sex, postgraduate qualification, frequency of continuing medical education and past experience of resuscitating cardiac arrest patients were not associated with a performance on the evaluation. CONCLUSION: Medical practitioner skills and knowledge of basic resuscitation were poor and resuscitation experience without training was not found to be beneficial. It is therefore recommended that formal training in resuscitation be mandatory at undergraduate and postgraduate level, with refresher courses held every 2 years.

Basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques--national consensus achieved.

Successful management of a cardiac arrest demands immediate and appropriate action. Numerous different techniques for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) have been described, resulting in confusion among health care providers with respect to the use of different methods under different circumstances. Lack of adequate resuscitation skills and the need for proper training are well recognised. The Heart Foundation of Southern Africa, in recognising this need, organised this country's first National Basic CPR Symposium, followed by a National Workshop where official representatives of major CPR-promoting organisations critically analysed and reviewed contentious issues in basic CPR with a view to providing national guidelines. It was unanimously agreed that the recommendations of the National Workshop, as reported here, would stand as the consensus of opinion of the 33 major CPR-promoting organisations in this country.