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life support  any device or technique used to maintain life functions or necessities for maintaining life, such as when a patient's bodily functions have ceased to function or when a person is in an extreme environment such as a space shuttle.
 

advanced life support(ALS)    a level of emergency care more advanced than basic life support, provided by personnel trained in such procedures; techniques used include those of basic life support as well as measures such as administration of certain types of medication, intravenously if necessary; monitoring of heart rhythms; and insertion of an endotracheal tube.

basic life support(BLS)    a basic type of emergency care, done usually by emergency medical technicians or other first responders, such as for patients in cardiac arrest; it involves the use of only noninvasive techniques such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and sometimes defibrillation.





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