Advanced Life Support - Who Performs ALS

Who Performs ALS

Many healthcare providers are trained to administer some form of ALS.

In out-of-hospital settings trained emergency medical technicians, paramedics or medics typically provide this level of care. Canadian paramedics may be certified in either ALS (Advance Care Paramedic-ACP) or in Basic Life Support (Primary Care Paramedic-PCP) (see paramedics in Canada). Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are often skilled in ALS, although they may employ slightly modified version of the Medical algorithm. In the United States, Paramedic level services are referred to as Advanced Life Support (ALS). Services staffed by basic EMTs are referred to as Basic Life Support (BLS), as those staffed by EMT-Intermediates are called Intermediate Life Support (ILS). In the Republic of Ireland, Advanced Life Support (ALS) is provided by an Advanced paramedic. Advanced Paramedic (AP) is the highest clinical level (level 6) in pre-hospital care in the Republic of Ireland based on the standards set down by PHECC, the Irish regulatory body for pre-hospital care and ambulance services. This terminology extends beyond emergency cardiac care to describe all capabilities of the providers.

In hospitals, ALS is usually given by a team of physicians (DOs and MDs) and nurses (RNs), with some clinical paramedics practicing in certain systems. Cardiac arrest teams, or "Code Teams", generally include junior doctors or senior nurses and technicians from various specialties such as emergency medicine, anesthetics, general or internal medicine.