Part 6: Pediatric Basic Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support

The Pediatric Task Force reviewed all questions submitted by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation member councils in 2010, reviewed all council training materials and resuscitation guidelines and algorithms, and conferred on recent areas of interest and controversy. This article identified a few areas where there were key differences in council-specific guidelines based on historical recommendations, such as the A-B-C (Airway, Breathing, Circulation) versus C-A-B (Circulation, Airway, Breathing) sequence of provision of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, initial back blows versus abdominal thrusts for foreign-body airway obstruction, an upper limit for recommended chest compression rate, and initial defibrillation dose for shockable rhythms. Although survival from pediatric cardiac arrest is improving in many parts of the world, especially in the in-hospital setting, the recognition and early treatment of infants and children with deteriorating conditions remains a priority to prevent cardiac arrest.