Heartsaver® First Aid CPR AED Course Description
This course is for anyone with little or no medical training who needs a course completion card for their job, regulatory (e.g., OSHA), or other requirements or anyone who wants to be prepared for an emergency in any setting. Upon successful course completion, students receive a course completion card, valid for two years.
Course Learning Objectives:
After successfully completing the CPR AED portion of this course, students should be able to:
- • Describe how high-quality CPR improves survival
- • Explain the concept of the Chain of Survival
- • Recognize when someone needs CPR
- • Describe how to perform CPR with help from others
- • Demonstrate giving effective breaths by using mouth to mouth or a mask for all ages
- • Demonstrate performing high-quality CPR for an adult, a child, and an infant
- • Demonstrate using an AED on an adult and on a child
- • Describe when and how to help a choking adult or child
- • Demonstrate how to help a choking infant
After successfully completing the first aid portion, students should be able to:
- • List the priorities, roles, and responsibilities of first aid rescuers
- • Describe the key steps in first aid
- • Demonstrate removing protective gloves
- • Demonstrate finding the problem
- • Describe the assessment and first aid actions for these life-threatening conditions: heart attack, difficulty breathing, choking, severe bleeding, shock, and stroke
- • Describe when and how to help a choking adult, child, or infant
- • Demonstrate how to help a choking infant
- • Demonstrate how to use an epinephrine pen
- • Demonstrate how to control bleeding and apply bandaging
- • Recognize elements of common illnesses and injuries
- • Describe the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle and the risks of smoking and vaping
- • Describe how to find information on preventing illness and injury
- • Recognize the legal questions that apply to first aid rescuers
BLS (Basic Life Support) Course Description
The AHA’s BLS course trains participants to promptly recognize several life-threatening emergencies, give high-quality chest compressions, deliver appropriate ventilations and provide early use of an AED. Reflects science and education from the American Heart Association Guidelines Update for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC).
Who should take this course?
The AHA’s BLS Course is designed for healthcare professionals and other personnel who need to know how to perform CPR and other basic cardiovascular life support skills in a wide variety of in-facility and prehospital settings.
What does this course teach?
- • High-quality CPR for adults, children, and infants
- • The AHA Chain of Survival, specifically the BLS components
- • Important early use of an AED
- • Effective ventilations using a barrier device
- • Importance of teams in multirescuer resuscitation and performance as an effective team member during multirescuer CPR
- • Relief of foreign-body airway obstruction (choking) for adults and infants
ACLS for Experienced Providers (ACLS-EP) Course Description
For those who are proficient in performing BLS and ACLS skills, reading and interpreting ECGs, understanding ACLS pharmacology; and who regularly lead or participate in emergency assessment and treatment of prearrest, arrest, or postarrest patients.
What does this course teach?
- • Demonstrate proficiency in providing BLS care, including prioritizing chest compressions and integrating use of an AED
- • Recognize and manage respiratory arrest
- • Recognize and manage cardiac arrest until termination of resuscitation or transfer of care, including post–cardiac arrest care
ACLS Course Description
For healthcare professionals who either direct or participate in the management of cardiopulmonary arrest or other cardiovascular emergencies and for personnel in emergency response
What does this course teach?
- • Basic life support skills, including effective chest compressions, use of a bag-mask device, and use of an AED
- • Recognition and early management of respiratory and cardiac arrest
- • Recognition and early management of peri-arrest conditions such as symptomatic bradycardia
- • Airway management
- • Related pharmacology
- • Management of ACS and stroke
- • Effective communication as a member and leader of a resuscitation team
PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) Course Description
The AHA’s PALS Course has been updated to reflect new science in the 2020 AHA Guidelines Update for CPR and ECC. This classroom, Instructor-led course uses a series of videos and simulated pediatric emergencies to reinforce the important concepts of a systematic approach to pediatric assessment, basic life support, PALS treatment algorithms, effective resuscitation, and team dynamics. The goal of the PALS Course is to improve the quality of care provided to seriously ill or injured children, resulting in improved outcomes.
Course Content:
- • High-quality Child CPR AED and Infant CPR
- • Recognition of patients who do and do not require immediate intervention
- • Recognition of cardiopulmonary arrest early and application CPR within 10 seconds
- • Apply team dynamics
- • Differentiation between respiratory distress and failure
- • Early interventions for respiratory distress and failure
- • Differentiation between compensated and decompensated (hypotensive) shock
- • Early interventions for the treatment of shock
- • Differentiation between unstable and stable patients with arrhythmias
- • Clinical characteristics of instability in patients with arrhythmias
- • Post–cardiac arrest management
Pediatric Advanced Emergency Assessment, Recognition and Stabilization (PEARS®) Course Description
The American Heart Association PEARS® Course has been updated to reflect science in the 2015 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC. In this classroom-based, Instructor-led course, students learn how to use a systematic approach to quickly assess, recognize the cause, and stabilize a pediatric patient in an emergency situation.
During PEARS®, students interact with real patient cases, and realistic simulations and animations to assess and stabilize pediatric patients experiencing respiratory and shock emergencies, and cardiopulmonary arrest. PEARS® prepares students to provide appropriate lifesaving interventions within the initial minutes of response until a child can be transferred to an advanced life support provider.
Who should take this course?
The American Heart Association PEARS® Course is designed for healthcare providers and others who might encounter pediatric emergency situations during their work and would like to be certified in Pediatric Emergencies including:
- • Physicians and nurses not specializing in pediatrics
- • Nurse practitioners
- • Physician assistants
- • EMTs
- • Respiratory therapists
- • Prehospital and in-facility healthcare providers (outside of critical-care areas)
- • Outpatient clinic staff
- • School-based providers
- • Any other healthcare provider who infrequently sees critically ill or injured infants and children
EMPACT Provider Course Description
This 16‐hour (face‐to‐face) course focuses on the most commonly seen patients in Emergency Medicine ‐ the Medical Patient. Participants must rely on both critical thinking and decision-making skills to effectively treat medical emergencies. Through the use of case‐based scenarios, discussions focus on clinical assessments, identifying a patient condition through differential diagnosis and how to determine a line of treatment based on local protocols.
