CPR Instructor Courses

Knowing how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, better known as CPR, may enable you to save a person's life. To be licensed in CPR, you need to successfully complete a CPR course, resulting in an official certification, and then renew your certification when it expires. CPR courses are taught by certified CPR instructors, who also undergo training which qualified them to teach. These instructor courses can be specialized and are taught in a variety of locations.

American Heart Association

• The American Heart Association (AHA) is the best known certifying organization for CPR training. AHA Instructors are required to complete the association's Core Instructor Course, which provides the foundation for teaching and facilitating AHA training courses. The Core Instructor Course is offered online, by using a CD-ROM or by attending the classroom version of the course. The course discusses the foundation for teaching and facilitating in each of the AHA's discipline-specific areas. Future instructors also learn consistent and uniform training techniques, eliminating the repetition that sometimes occurs across these specializations. Once the core class is completed, instructors go on to complete a discipline-specific course in Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support, Basic Life Support or Heartsaver. Finally, instructors are monitored during teaching time.

Heartsaver Training

• CPR instructors specialize in certain practices after core training and must undergo additional training to teach these practices. Heartsaver courses are designed for designated first responders, individuals who must be credentialed in CPR for job requirements and companies that want staff certified in CPR. Instructors teach the head tilt-chin lift, chest compressions and breaths and contacting emergency responders (calling 911). This is a classroom course.

Basic Life Support Training

• The Basic Life Support Course (BLS) is designed for health care professionals who need to identify emergencies, provide CPR, use a defibrillator and relieve choking. The course is offered for both health care professionals and those who want to learn both CPR and additional life-saving training like using a defibrillator, relieving choking and recognizing an emergency situation.

PALS and ACLS Courses

• The other two discipline-specific courses instructors can teach are the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course and the Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) course. PALS is designed to give health care professionals the skills they need to treat infants and children. Instructors teach recognition of emergencies, immediate response procedures and stabilizing and transporting the child. The ACLS course is designed for health care professionals who work in emergency treatment or intensive care facilities. Instructors teach the importance of BLS skills, the integration of BLS skills with cardiopulmonary practices and the importance of a team response during resuscitation. Instructors give students hands-on scenarios that mimic clinical scenarios.