The American Red Cross Healthcare Guidelines database brings together the most current recommended actions for healthcare professionals and emergency responders, as appropriate, based on the results of scientific evidence evaluations and guideline reviews overseen by the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council. The guidelines present data, reviews, and guidance from other significant sources, such as the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), and provide summary recommendations in the following areas:
- Basic Life Support
- Advanced Life Support
- Pediatric Advanced Life Support
- Neonatal Advanced Life Support
- Resuscitation Education Science
For easy access to essential information, the database is organized by the areas listed above, which are further divided into sections and topics. For example, Basic Life Support includes an Early Access section that features topics such as Public Access Defibrillation Programs for Adults and Public Access Defibrillation Programs for Infants, Children and Adolescents. Each topic is structured to include:
- Red Cross Guidelines that are specific to the topic and based on the latest evidence.
- Evidence Summary sections that provide a synopsis of the most recent and important science to support the guidelines.
- Insights and Implications that describe related observations, the rationale behind guideline reviewer opinions or important gaps in knowledge or research.
- Some topics include infographics that present key information in a visually compelling format.
- Last Full Review that identifies when the last systematic or scoping reviews were completed by the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council and/or the ILCOR.
- Last Update that identifies when the last Triennial Updates were completed by the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council or the last Evidence Updates were completed by ILCOR.
Science and Technical Content
The scientific content and evidence within the database are consistent with the most current science and treatment recommendations from the following organizations:
- The American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council (ARCSAC)
- The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR)
- Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
- The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)
- The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG)
- The American College of Surgeons (ACS)
- The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)
- The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN)
- The Brain Trauma Foundation
- The Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (Co-TCCC)
- The Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM)/American College of Critical Care Medicine (ACCM)
- The Stop the Bleed Campaign (STB)
- The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC)
- The World Health Organization (WHO)