BLS

Basic Life Support (BLS)

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 multi-rescuer resuscitation and performance as an effective team member during multi-rescuer CPR
Relief of foreign-body airway obstruction (choking) for adults and infants

Completion Card

AHA’s BLS Course Completion Card, valid for two years

Welcome to the American Heart Association Basic Life Support (BLS) Provider Course. BLS is the foundation for saving lives after cardiac arrest. In this course, you will learn the skills of high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for victims of all ages. You will practice delivering these skills both as a single-rescuer and as a member of a multi-rescuer team. The skills you learn in this course will enable you to:

Recognize cardiac arrest
Activate the emergency response system early
Respond quickly and confidently

Despite important advances in prevention, sudden cardiac arrest remains a leading cause of death in many countries. About half of cardiac arrests are unwitnessed. The outcome from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest remains poor. Only about 10% of adult patients with non-traumatic cardiac arrest who are treated by emergency medical services (EMS) survive hospital discharge.

This course will help you give victims the best chance of survival.

BLS Course Objectives

The BLS Course focuses on what you need to know to perform high-quality CPR in a wide variety of settings. You will also learn how to respond to choking and other types of life-threatening emergencies. After successfully completing the BLS Course, you should be able to:

Describe the importance of high-quality CPR and its impact on survival
Describe all the steps in the Chains of Survival
Apply the BLS concepts of the Chains of Survival
Recognize the signs of someone needing CPR
Perform high-quality CPR for an adult, a child, and an infant
Describe the importance of early use of an automated external defibrillator (AED)
Demonstrate the appropriate use of an AED
Provide effective ventilation by using a barrier device
Describe the importance of teams in multi-rescuer resuscitation
Perform as an effective team member during multi-rescuer CPR
Describe the technique for relief of foreign-body airway obstruction for an adult, a child, and an infant

Completion Requirement

To successfully complete this course and receive your BLS course completion card, you must do the following:

Watch all videos.
Score at least 85% on the exam.
Pass the skills test.

AHA’s BLS Course Completion Card, valid for two years
**The exam is open resources. This means you may refer to the videos and American Heart Association Student BLS Provider Manual