A team of doctors have launched a new app, called iALS, to act as a support tool for trained Adult Advanced Life Support (ALS) providers.
The app has been designed and developed by clinicians who are regularly involved in cardiac arrest, to help healthcare professionals in the situation, which the developers said ‘can be a challenging and high-pressure task’.
During a cardiac arrest, team leaders must keep track of CPR cycles, remember when shocks and intravenous drugs should be given, and interpret investigations, all whilst reversing potential causes of the arrest; the app aims to support this.
By providing documentation and algorithm support at a clinician’s fingertips, it aims to guide users through the Resuscitation Council UK Advanced Life Support algorithm. It provides visual and audio prompts, helping to reduce cognitive burdens and the effects of human factors. It also documents the activities to populate a patient’s notes.
The app also includes a resuscitation dashboard with clear displays of cycle, adrenaline and amiodarone counters, and a two minute timer, total timer and start time. It provides a log for interventions and drugs, an arterial blood gas recorder and calculator – the information needed for handover.
Launched last month, the app received 320 downloads in the first 10 days. It is currently available free on the Apple store, with an Android version soon to follow.
To view or download the app please see: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/ials/id1535351260
Over a year ago, HTN interviewed one of the team members behind the app, Dr Arron Thind. In the interview we discussed an app Arron and two partners had developed to automate the process of calculating dosing regimens for four commonly prescribed intravenous antibiotics (gentamicin, amikacin, vancomycin and teicoplanin).
