During resuscitation, an AED advises a shock for an unresponsive 54-year-old female. What rhythm should you suspect?

In the context of resuscitation and the use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), the rhythm you should suspect when an AED advises a shock is pulseless ventricular tachycardia. Pulseless ventricular tachycardia is a life-threatening cardiac rhythm that occurs when the heart is beating out of sync and cannot effectively pump blood. In this condition, the electrical signals in the heart are chaotic and can lead to a lack of effective blood flow to vital organs, which is why it falls under the category of shockable rhythms.

When the AED detects a rhythm that is amenable to defibrillation, it analyzes the heart's electrical activity and may recognize pulseless ventricular tachycardia as a critical situation requiring an immediate shock to restore a normal heart rhythm. This is important because timely intervention with an AED significantly improves the chances of survival when dealing with shockable rhythms like pulseless ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation.

Other rhythms such as supraventricular tachycardia, asystole, and pulseless electrical activity do not respond to defibrillation, hence the AED would not recommend a shock in these cases. In summary, pulseless ventricular tachycardia is characterized by