The American Heart Association (AHA) has been considered the standard of care for guideline development for resuscitation from neonates to adults for decades. Virtually all providers are required to obtain at least basic CPR certification and others, depending on their specialty/location of work, may require advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) for adults, children, and/or neonates (technically not an AHA course). Others for obstetrics, early newborn care, and wilderness medicine exist and are based on the general framework created by the AHA. The American Red Cross also offers courses.
The AHA previously released the outstanding Full Code Pro app that I still use for its outstanding code-tracking functions. It does not have the entire algorithms included in the app. Many apps, from Epocrates to dedicated non-AHA apps, include the basic algorithms. But I have yet to see an app that included the algorithms for ACLS combined with some code tracking functions until now.
The AHA has permitted the MGH Healthcare Transformation Lab to create MGH ACLS. This new app provides the approved 2019 AHA ACLS algorithms with timers and trackers, checklists, helpful drop-down menus to be used during a code. The app even includes a version of the ACLS Cardiac Arrest algorithm that takes into account COVID-19 (based on their 2020 update).
Likes
- Developed jointly between Harvard/MGH and the AHA
- Uses current 2019 AHA ACLS guidelines and the 2020 COVID update
- Handy timers
Dislikes
- Code-tracking functions limited to primarily timers and dosing for epi/shock tracking only
- Section on COVID lacks detail
- Not available for Android
This post appeared on iMedicalApps.com.