PALS Courses And Certification
Medical emergencies can occur at anytime, anywhere. So, the wisest thing for us to do would be to prepared for such emergencies beforehand. On the basis of this belief, the American Heart Association developed a program called Pediatric Advanced Life Support or PALS. PALS first came into being in 1983 when the AHA realized the need for introducing proper training and resuscitation guidelines which would help impart, amongst healthcare professionals, the knowledge and the skills needed to provide expert care to patients, especially children and infants, who are critically ill and suffering from cardiopulmonary emergencies, such as cardiac arrest.
PALS is a program which aims to teach students vital life-saving skills, which they can implement, individually, as the leader of a team of medical practitioners or as a team member. The basic premises of the PALS course are to equip students with the proper techniques and knowhow for performing life support CPR to prevent collapse, the knowledge of advanced pediatric life support measures and to enable them to perform as part of a team, stressing the need for proper interaction, cooperation and communication while trying to resuscitate a patient.
PALS certification can only be achieved once an individual has taken the PALS course. PALS classes are available both online, as offered by the AHA, as well as in classrooms in hospitals or in medical schools. If you prefer learning at your own pace, from the comfort of your own home, you would probably be more suited for the online PALS course. But if you find that you learn better in a classroom setting, you would perhaps prefer attending classes in hospitals or medical schools which offer PALS courses.
PALS certification is specifically designed for medical and healthcare professionals including nurses, physicians, emergency physicians, pediatricians, paramedics and other medical practitioners, who are responsible for directly administering advanced life support procedures in times of pediatric emergencies. But, not just anyone can take up the PALS course. In order to participate in the PALS course, one has to have completed the basic life support (BLS) course offered by the AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION or the BLS course offered by American Red Cross and one must also have the necessary knowledge in PALS pharmacology and ECG interpretation. They are also required to complete some pre-course material which they are given, prior to the start of PALS classes. A PALS provider course-completion-card, valid for a period of two years, is assigned to the students, subject to them passing the PALS course.
It is worth mentioning, of course, that PALS is not only meant for medical practitioners but it can also prove beneficial to patients, specifically to injured or critically ill children. Studies have shown that following the introduction of PALS, the survival rate amongst patients of cardiopulmonary emergencies who were attended to by PALS-certified medical practitioners, before they could be taken to a hospital or a healthcare center, has increased consistently. Overall, it is fair to say that the introduction of PALS has proven useful for both patients and medical professionals in situations of emergency. It is highly recommended that all healthcare and medical professionals should take up PALS training so that they may be prepared to provide patients with the most expert medical care that they possibly can.
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