studentparamedics: “Atrial Fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, which occur

studentparamedics:

“Atrial Fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, which occurs when the normal electrical impulses that are generated by the SA node are overwhelmed by disorganized electrical impulses in the atria. These disorganized impulses cause the muscles of the upper chambers of the heart to quiver (fibrillate) and this leads to the conduction of irregular impulses to the ventricles.”

The primary issue of atrial fibrillation in the pre-hospital setting is reduced cardiac output (as a result of tachycardia) which can alter your pts. perfusion status. 

Most common symptoms.

• palpitations or chest discomfort
• shortness of air and possibly respiratory distress
• hypotension, light-headedness and possibly loss of consciousness
• peripheral edema, jugular vein distention, and possibly pulmonary edema”

How to identify

1. No p-waves before the QRS on the ECG. This is because there are no coordinated atrial contractions.
2. The heart rate will be irregular. Irregular impulses that the ventricles are receiving cause the irregular heart rate.

Source for italic info: https://acls-algorithms.com/rhythms/atrial-fibrillation/