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| Appropriate color and placement of Kinesio Tape, as shown here, can stabilize the chest wall and increase the effectiveness of chest compressions |
"We review the most current medical literature every 5 years in order to keep our ACLS guidelines and educational materials as up to date as possible," AHA President John Warner MD explained. "Our focus has always been on establishing a foundation of basic lifesaving skills, quality CPR, team dynamics and communication, and the recognition and treatment of life-threatening medical emergencies."
One of the most important aspects of advanced life support is also one of its most basic. When a patient's heart isn't functioning properly, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, commonly referred to as CPR, can partially restore the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart and brain with the application of deep compressions of the chest. It may be a basic component of ACLS, but that doesn't mean that CPR is simple to perform correctly.
Proper chest compressions require a significant amount of downward force in order to squeeze blood from the heart and throughout the body, and it needs to be done frequently to be effective. Experts such as Mort Fishman MD, an intensive care physician at Northern Mount St. Deaconess Memorial Health Center in Livingston, MT, have seen providers experience fatigue and muscle cramping that can interfere with quality compressions. "We've suspected for years that Kinesio Tape might play a role in compressions, stabilizing the chest wall and augmenting the force provided by an emergency responder, and I use it in my unit. In my opinion, we shouldn't be waiting for the go-ahead from the AHA to standardize its use."
Widespread adoption will likely occur in 2020 when the next ACLS update is set to be released. That's because mounting evidence is supporting what Fishman and many paramedics and emergency medical technicians have known for years. "A patient in my ICU isn't dead until they're taped and dead."
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