The STS Expert Consensus for the Resuscitation of Patients Who Arrest After Cardiac Surgery

This New STS Expert Consensus Statement is now available to download.

For the first time this protocol gives units who look after patients after cardiac surgery a complete guide for the management for patients who arrest.

Most notably there is a recommendation that patients should undergo an emergency resternotomy within 5 minutes if quickly reversible factors are not found, in order to save those patients who have arrested due to tamponade, for whom external CPR is ineffective.

There are recommendations for the organisation of the team, recommendations against the use of epinephrine, recommendations on how to identify rapidly reversible causes for the arrest and importantly there is advice as to how to implement this guidance into your unit and how to get trained.

The APACVS have also set up a training arm to help with the implementation of the protocol that can be found at www.csu-als.com