Ventricular Fibrillation and Asystole
Objectives
At the end of this chapter, the student should be able to:
- Define ventricular fibrillation (VFib), and list the diagnostic criteria of this rhythm. (p 630)
- Discuss the mechanism behind the formation of VFib and why we actually use defibrillation to treat it. (pp 631–632)
- Define asystole, and list the diagnostic criteria of this clinical entity. (pp 633–634)
- Predict whether electrical cardioversion would work as treatment for asystole. If you argue that it would not work on this rhythm, why do we still use it in cases of cardiac arrest? (p 634)
- Define an agonal rhythm, and list the diagnostic criteria of this rhythm. (p 634)
- Accurately identify VFib, agonal rhythm, and asystole on a rhythm strip or ECG. (pp 634–637)
