Advanced cardiac life support or advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) refers to a set of clinical interventions for the urgent treatment of cardiac arrest, stroke and other life-threatening medical emergencies, as well as the knowledge and skills to deploy those interventions

Providers

Only qualified health care providers can provide ACLS, as it requires the ability to manage the person’s airway, initiate IV access, read and interpret electrocardiograms, and understand emergency pharmacology; these include physicians, pharmacists (PharmDs), dentists, advanced practice providers (PAs and NPs), respiratory therapists (RTs), nurses (RNs), paramedics (EMT-Ps) and other advanced life support EMTs (Advanced EMTs for example). Other emergency responders may also be trained.

Basic life support (BLS) is a level of medical care which is used for victims of life-threatening illnesses or injuries until they can be given full medical care at a hospital. It can be provided by trained medical personnel, including emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and by qualified bystanders.

Many countries have guidelines on how to provide basic life support (BLS) which are formulated by professional medical bodies in those countries. The guidelines outline algorithms for the management of a number of conditions, such as cardiac arrest, choking and drowning. BLS does not include the use of drugs or invasive skills, and can be contrasted with the provision of Advanced Life Support (ALS). Firefighters, lifeguards, and police officers are often required to be BLS certified. BLS skills are also appropriate for many other professions, such as daycare providers, teachers and security personnel and social workers especially working in the hospitals and ambulance drivers.

Overseas Education

Studying abroad is the act of a student pursuing educational opportunities in a country other than one’s own.[1] This can include primary, secondary and post-secondary students. The number of students studying abroad represents only about 1% of all students enrolled at institutions of higher education in the United States

Despite the slight decline in U.S. students studying abroad for credit in 2008–2009, study abroad is likely to continue to grow. The number of outgoing U.S. students pursuing overseas study has increased over fivefold since the late 1980s, from less than 50,000 students to more than 260,000 in 2008–09. Behind the numbers, though, has been the proliferation in the type study abroad programs. According to Lilli Engel of the American University Center of Provence, there are fundamental differences in the academic and cultural experience offered by study abroad programs today that suggest the need to create a level-based classification system for program types. In an influential Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad article, she compares “a one-month summer term, requiring little or no host language proficiency, with subject-matter classes in English, collective housing and American roommates” with “a full-year program for students of advanced linguistic proficiency housed individually in a host family and directly enrolled in local university courses or engaged in a professional internship or service-learning project.

Motivation, interaction and their connection to developing a second-language was examined by Todd A. Hernandez of Marquette University. In terms of language acquisition, there is more to learning a language than just the assumption “that study abroad is superior to home education…”. It is the interaction of the individual with the option of various opportunities, the exchange of language and ideas across cultures and the interpersonal connections established within various social settings. When these characteristics are pursued in Study Abroad, many researchers have found the “this sustained interaction is an important improvement in a Study Abroad context… contributing to language gain.

Yet, within international education, a universally accepted method of classifying study abroad programs has proven elusive. U.S. students can choose from a wide range of study-abroad opportunities differentiated by program sponsor, curriculum, cost, program model, language and degree of integration, to name a few. While study abroad in the U.S. is by no means uniform, study abroad programs can reasonably be grouped according to (a) duration, (b) program model (c) program sponsor.