Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) is a protocol that is set up and updated by the American Heart Association. Many health care providers have to be certified in ACLS in order to treat the patient. Doctors with this certification usually work in the Emergency Department, a trauma center, the operating room and the Intensive Care Unit. Nurses practitioners, paramedics and respiratory therapist as other medical personal who will have the certification in ACLS protocols.

Part of the ACLS Protocol is a drug called Magnesium Sulfate which is administered by two routes. Intravenous is one way to deliver this drug into the patient’s system and another is through an intramuscular injection. Both routes get the drug into the system quickly. Infusion of this drug is done if the patient has been diagnosed as having a myocardial infarction or a recent myocardial infarction. Health personnel infuse this drug to counteract the chemical imbalance that a heart attack causes. The patient will develop hypomagnesemia which is an electrolyte imbalance with magnesium levels in the blood being very low. Having an imbalance such as this will effect other organs in the bottom. One of the symptoms of low magnesium is cramping in your muscle. Your heart is a muscle and that is the reason to restore balance as soon as possible.

Low magnesium can also cause heart arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation and tachycardia, to name a few. Any type of arrhythmia is a potential danger but when in the midst of a heart attack, it is even more worrisome.  To summarize, not any medical personnel can use the ACLS protocol. It takes training and certification by the an accredited program approved by the American Heart Association. Personnel who are certified usually work in high-risk areas of the hospital such as a trauma center, Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit or Progressive Care Unit, Surgi-Centers and Operating Rooms. Magnesium Sulfate is a drug that is administered per ACLS Protocol to help counter hypomagnesemia a condition that happens when a patient has either a myocardial infraction or an impending myocardial infarction. This infusion will replete magnesium in a patient and prevent further complications of arrhythmias.