EM Mastery
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Shocking the patient in asystole

Jun 01, 2024

The patient in asystole, has a very poor prognosis. But is it really asystole?

Is there any benefit in giving one shock to that patient?

Surely we need to look at all the leads and increase the amplitude, to see of this is low amplitude VF. Even if we find low amplitude VF, will we be able to successfully defibrillate them? Evidence suggests that we should perform CPR to increase the amplitude of the VF waveform?....delivering one shock early may be very appropriate. We can continue with CPR following this. If nothing changes, I would not deliver any further shocks. It's something to think about.

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