Verapamil (Class IV)

This is a calcium channel blocker and an injectable vial of it may be in your crash cart.

This is meant for intraveous-push-use.  If a person has atrial tachycardia, we’d give a bolus dose of verapamil and if it doesn’t work in 5 minutes, we repeat the dose and by the second dose, studies show that 90% of the patients will go back to normal sinus rhythm.

Atropine

This is found in your crash carts and it’s meant for intravenous push use as well and it’s for treating sinus BRADYcardia (unlike the previous verapamil, amiodarone and propranolol).  If the heart rate is slow and we want to bring the heart rate up, we use this drug.