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Pediatric Cardiac Arrest: Three Common Causes of Cardiac Arrest in Children

Pediatric advanced life support (PALS) outlines guidelines and protocols to follow when providing emergency care for a child or infant. The distinction between treating an adult and providing care for a child is very important, as the common causes and symptoms of some conditions greatly vary depending on the age of the victim.

One such condition is cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops effectively circulating blood to the body. This causes a lack of oxygen to the brain, which leads to unconsciousness, breathing lapses and if not addressed immediately, permanent brain damage or death.

Intensive care units and cardiac arrest in infants and children
Research shows that in intensive care settings, the likelihood of a child to survive a cardiac arrest depends on his or her age. A 2006 study published in the journal, Pediatrics, showed that newborns and infants were twice and three times as likely, respectively, to survive a cardiac arrest in an intensive care setting, compared to older children. Overall survival statistics were 22 percent: 27 percent of newborns, 36 percent of infants, 19 percent of younger children and 16 percent of older children survived to hospital discharge.

Causes of pediatric cardiac arrest
While the causes of cardiac arrest in adults are often cardiac-related, such as a heart attack, pediatric cardiac arrest is often caused by non cardiac-related events. Common causes of cardiac arrest in children include respiratory conditions, poisoning and trauma.

  • Respiratory conditions like sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), drowning and smoke inhalation can often lead to cardiac arrest in children. Because these conditions can lead to respiratory and cardiopulmonary failure, cardiac arrest is likely to follow.
  • Poisoning is also a common cause of pediatric cardiac arrest. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC), a child is poisoned every 30 seconds. Poisoning in children is often caused by accidental ingestion. Without treatment, severe cases of poisoning can lead to loss of consciousness, difficulty breathing, seizures, cardiac arrest and eventually death.
  • Trauma occurs when an individual sustains a severe physical injury, which can lead a victim into shock, cardiac arrest and death. These injuries are often caused by accidents, such as unintentional falls (the leading cause of injury in children) and motor vehicle accidents (the leading cause of death in children).

PALS training can help
PALS training equips healthcare professionals with standard protocols and procedures to treat conditions like pediatric cardiac arrest. In a PALS course, you will learn how to:

  • Understand the causes of cardiac arrest in children.
  • Utilize the correct interventions, including cardioversion, administration of epinephrine, vasopressin and antiarrhythmic drugs, in the management of cardiac arrest.
  • Identify shockable and nonshockable cardiac rhythms, as well as possible causes.
  • Administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation, airway management, IV/IO access and defibrillation to initiate the immediate care of a child in cardiac arrest.

About Health Ed Solutions
Health Ed Solutions provides PALS certification and recertification courses for healthcare professionals and first responders. Learn more about both courses in the course catalog.

Sources: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17142528