PEBC Cardiology Practice Test

Ventricular fibrillation is a chaotic, nonpumping rhythm where the heart cannot deliver blood. The immediate management is to deliver a defibrillation shock. This unsynchronized high-energy impulse aims to depolarize the entire myocardium at once, momentarily resetting electrical activity so the heart’s natural pacemaker can regain control and a pulse may return. Time matters—the sooner defibrillation is delivered, the better the chance of return of spontaneous circulation. Other options don’t address the acute electrical chaos: observation won’t restore rhythm, rate control with a beta-blocker is irrelevant during a pulseless arrest, and thrombolysis isn’t an immediate solution for VF and won’t promptly restore circulation in the moment. After the shock, CPR continues and additional ACLS steps are taken as needed.