Online ACLS, BLS, and PALS Certification for San Diego Medical Professionals
The 2012 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index ranked San Diego as having the 15th highest overall well-being rating of 68 for large metro areas. Gallup considered six sub-categories in creating the overall score, which focused on emotional health, physical health, work environment, healthy behavior, life evaluation, and basic access.
The San Diego-Carlbad-San Marcos area reported a 10.3 percent prevalence of diabetes and a 24.7 percent occurrence of obesity, which has slowly been declining since 2010. The percentage of residents who were uninsured rose from 2011 from 14.5 percent to 15.5 percent. 60.4 percent of those surveyed were hopeful that the area would improve in the future. With a frequency of 58.2 percent, residents exceeded the national average of 52.7 percent regarding frequency of exercise (30 minute intervals at a minimum of three days a week).
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in San Diego and the leading cause in the United States. Close to 60 percent of San Diego’s adult population is overweight or obese.
In San Diego County, over half of African American, Latino, and Native American/Alaska Native populations, and one in three Asians are overweight or obese. African Americans have the highest prevalence of ethnic groups within San Diego County for high blood pressure at 32.5 percent and highest occurrence of diabetes at 9.7 percent.
Latinos have the highest frequency of overweight or obesity at 58.1 percent while white adults have the highest prevalence of heart disease in San Diego County with a rate of 7.8 percent.
San Diego’s healthcare providers receiving certification in Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) will help to increase the quality of care and thus positively influence outcomes for seriously ill or wounded children and infants. People who currently work in emergency response, intensive and critical care units, and emergency medicine—like nurses, paramedics and doctors—will develop a new skill set from a PALS course. But those interested in PALS must first be experienced with Basic Life Support (BLS) training.
San Diego’s residents can acquire emergency care skills when they successfully complete BLS training. Instructors incorporate both videos and lectures into the class. Students learn when to administer rescue breathing and the correct techniques to do so. Detailed steps that cover one and two person resuscitation teams are found in the BLS “Chain of Survival.”
Acquiring the proper techniques for administering chest compressions on infants, children, and adults are essential to BLS training. Emergency medical response, including handling and locating Automatic External Defibrillators (AED), is taught to individuals during training.
San Diego providers must exhibit a background in adult pharmacology, ECG Rhythm Recognition, BLS, and airway management and equipment before they can complete Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) training.
Although BLS principles are not highlighted in class, ACLS tests require students to understand BLS. ACLS highlights high quality CPR, BLS and ACLS Surveys, ACLS cases for specific disorders, and post cardiac arrest care.
San Diego locals can rely on ACLS PALS, and BLS providers during a medical emergency.
San Diego needs more certified ACLS providers!
