Season 5: Episode Six: True PEA vs. Pseudo-PEA

What if everything you thought you knew about cardiac arrest was wrong? In this game-changing episode, Dr. Martin Bennett, Dr. Adam Brenner, and Dr. Scott Ekin blow up the traditional ACLS approach to PEA - revealing why "pulseless" doesn't always mean what we think it does.

Dr. Brenner takes us on a journey beyond the cookbook protocols, challenging the very definition of PEA and exposing a shocking truth: our fingers are terrible at detecting pulses. With studies showing we miss actual pulses nearly 50% of the time and hallucinate non-existent ones 35% of the time, it's clear we need better tools and smarter approaches.

The delegates explore the critical difference between true PEA (where the heart isn't moving at all) and pseudo-PEA (where patients are just profoundly hypotensive). They dive into cutting-edge strategies using end-tidal CO2 and pulse oximetry as objective measures of perfusion, discuss why high-dose pressors should be standard in PEA management, and explain why the mantra for these patients should be "PEA - don't stay and play."

From the promise of ultrasound in the field to understanding why CPR might actually harm some PEA patients, this episode delivers practical, modern approaches that go far beyond the outdated "epi-CPR-epi" cycle.

Join us for an episode that will fundamentally change how you think about and treat one of EMS's most challenging presentations.