The Pre-Hospital Cardiac Care Essentials Programme develops clinicians capable of recognising, assessing and managing patients experiencing acute cardiovascular deterioration, peri-arrest dysrhythmias and cardiac arrest in the pre-hospital environment.
The programme builds upon established Australian ALS and international ACLS principles while extending learning beyond algorithm recall through realistic clinical decision-making, ECG interpretation, physiology, technical skills, human factors, leadership and repeated simulation.
Participants learn not merely what the algorithm says to do, but why an intervention is indicated, what effect it should have, how to recognise when it has failed, and what should happen next.
By completion, participants should be able to:
• Recognise the deteriorating cardiovascular patient before cardiac arrest.
• Undertake a structured assessment of acute cardiovascular emergencies.
• Distinguish stable, unstable, peri-arrest and cardiac-arrest states.
• Rapidly interpret clinically important cardiac rhythms.
• Recognise shockable and non-shockable cardiac-arrest rhythms.
• Deliver high-quality CPR while minimising interruptions.
• Perform safe manual defibrillation.
• Perform synchronised cardioversion.
• Understand indications and principles of transcutaneous cardiac pacing.
• Recognise and manage symptomatic bradycardia.
• Recognise and manage narrow- and broad-complex tachyarrhythmias.
• Recognise important AV blocks and conduction abnormalities.
• Apply resuscitation pharmacology safely and appropriately.
• Establish IV and IO access during resuscitation.
• Identify and treat reversible causes of cardiac arrest.
• Integrate airway, oxygenation and ventilation into cardiac resuscitation without compromising CPR.
• Use waveform capnography during cardiac arrest and following ROSC.
• Recognise ROSC rapidly and transition from resuscitation to post-cardiac-arrest care.
• Provide structured post-ROSC cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological support.
• Recognise acute coronary occlusion and other important causes of cardiac arrest.
• Modify resuscitation appropriately for selected special circumstances.
• Make appropriate transport and destination decisions following cardiac emergencies.
• Lead and participate effectively in resuscitation teams.
• Recognise fixation, task saturation, cognitive overload and loss of situational awareness.
• Communicate effectively during high-acuity resuscitation.
• Use cognitive aids without becoming dependent upon them.
• Integrate clinical reasoning, ALS skills and human factors during realistic pre-hospital simulations.
Paramedics, emergency nurses, retrieval clinicians, critical care transport clinicians and other healthcare professionals involved in emergency cardiovascular care.
Interactive lectures, workshops, case studies, group discussions and clinical scenarios.
Cardiac emergencies: More than cardiac arrest
Recognising the deteriorating cardiac patient
Rhythm recognition for resuscitation
Bradycardia, AV Block & pacing
Tachycardia & cardioversion
Cardiac arrest & High-Performance CPR
Defibrillation & electrical therapy
Resuscitation pharmacology & vascular access
Advanced cardiac arrest management
Reversible causes: Beyond the 4 Hs & 4 Ts
Airway, ventilation & capnography during arrest
ACS, coronary occlusion & cardiac arrest
Post-ROSC care
Cardiac arrest in special circumstances
Human factors & resuscitation leadership
Integrated cardiac emergency simulations
