What is the difference between ALS and BLS?

ALS or Advanced Life Support is utilized when Basic Life Support is not enough to keep a person alive. BLS is usually used to keep a patient stable until they can reach hospital care. BLS is used for a person who is in cardiac arrest, or who has an airway obstruction.

The person administering this care should know CPR, use of a defibrillator, and relieving airway obstruction; however, ALS is a different level of care and is an extension of BLS. The components of ALS would be intubation, cardiac monitoring, cardiac defibrillation, and advanced cardiac life support. Both BLS and ALS are life-sustaining applications.

Our life depends on our health, and sometimes, our bodies need help with staying alive. This is where life support comes in. Life support gives the body the assistance it needs to stay alive. There are two types of life support. One is BLS. It stands for basic life support.

It is called basic because only medical technicians work with it, and they have limitations. They are not able to use needed or make a cut in the skin. They also cannot give medicine. The other type of life support is ALS, which is advanced life support. They have paramedics and have the ability to make cuts on the skin and give medicine.

ALS or Advanced Life Support and BLS or Basic Life Support are both life systems specifically designed to stabilize a patient during an emergency before getting to the hospital for proper treatment. However, one of the major differences between the two lies in the fact that one is actually advanced, and the other is basic, especially in terms of the functionality of the two.

BLS providers are usually two medical technicians, but there is an inclusion of a paramedic as one of those who will be serving as ALS providers during emergencies. Another major difference between the two is that, unlike ALS that can be used to inject patients, BLS cannot be used to inject patients, and that is why it is usually regarded as non-invasive.

Another difference is that medical technicians assigned to a BLS cannot administer drugs, whereas those of ALS can administer drugs and give injections. This is because medical technicians serving as ALS providers are usually doctors, nurses. Another difference is that more medical devices are attached to ALS than BLS.