Re-entry arrhythmias are a common cause of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). These forms of SVT are amenable to paramedic interventions, including non-invasive manoeuvres, pharmacological interventions, and synchronised cardioversion. You will begin by reviewing the re-entry mechanisms of AVRT, AVNRT, and atrial flutter. You will be presented with scenarios and asked to make a diagnosis based on patient history and a 12-lead ECG, and you will hear the real-life story of a patient who was born with an accessory pathway. You will examine the jurisdictional ambulance services' clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for managing these arrhythmias and compare and contrast the CPGs of 10 jurisdictional services across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. This will involve examining in detail the commonly used interventions to terminate SVT in the out-of-hospital setting and applying this to a broader strategy for managing patients with these arrhythmias.

This course is part of our advanced cardiology series aimed at advanced clinicians such as MICA Paramedics, HARU Paramedics, Critical Care Paramedics, and Intensive Care Paramedics.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Identify common types of re-entry SVT and examine the underlying pathophysiology of each
• Examine the patient presentation with SVT including patient demographics, common home medications, and signs and symptoms
• Differentiate between different types of re-entry SVT by interpreting the ECG
• Compare the clinical practice guidelines for jurisdictional ambulance services
• Apply your understanding of the pathophysiology of re-entry SVT to examine safe appropriate treatment options for patients experiencing SVT
• Apply your knowledge of pathophysiology and skills in ECG interpretation to work through a number of case studies.