The AHA just updated the playbook on acute pulmonary embolism. The old classification system is gone. Heparin drips are no longer the default. And if your instinct is to push for intubation, that could be the thing that makes your patient worse.
In this episode, Dr. Mark Creager, lead author of the 2026 AHA Multi-Society Guideline on Acute Pulmonary Embolism, breaks down exactly what's changed, how the new guidelines help teams make better decisions faster, and what nurses need to know about frontline PE management.
Learn what the data says about oxygen therapy, anticoagulation, vasopressors, and the decisions that matter most when your PE patient starts to slide.
Topics discussed in this episode:
- The new A to E classification system and how to categorize patients
- Clinical signs that your PE patient is deteriorating
- Oxygen therapy: why intubation can be dangerous
- Vasopressor therapy and when to add vasopressin
- Low-molecular-weight heparin vs. unfractionated heparin
- PE response teams: when to activate and who should be on the team
- What you can do when your hospital has no PERT
- When to transfer by classification (and when it may be too late)
- The nurse's role in early recognition and escalation
And you can check out the full AHA/ACC 2026 updated PE guideline here:
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001415