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Intracardiac medication is rarely, if ever used. And that was only in the hospital back in the old ('70s) days. The movie Pulp Fiction was just that, fiction. If a patient that was in cardiac arrest (BTW, heart attack usually refers to a myocardial infarction, not cardiac arrest) and in ventricular fibrillation (or pulseless v-tach) was defibbed into asystole (flatline), the medics would start with the asystole protocol which is usually (following intubation and IV access) 1 mg IV of 1:10,000 epinephrine (1 mg in 10cc), followed by 30 secs/1 minute of CPR to circulate it. Then follow that with 1 mg IV of atropine and CPR. After 3 to 5 mins, repeat the medications. Treatable causes (like hyperkalemia, acidosis, etc.) of asystole are considered too, but in most cases, asystole is usually irreversible. We are rarely able to resuscitate asystolic patients.



Posted on Jul 23, 2001, 9:27 PM

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  1. Good to know. Wayfarer, Jul 27, 2001
  2. Well, not exactly. BG, Aug 10, 2001

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