top of page

American Heart Association

The instructors at Virginia EMS Training Group have instructorships and Faculty status in several American Heart Association courses. We can bring these courses to your agency. Depending on the course, additional logistics may need to be secured by the agency. The courses we can teach are,

 

Heartsaver First Aid CPR/AED Training:

The AHA’s Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED course trains participants to provide first aid, CPR, and use an automated external defibrillator (AED) in a safe, timely, and effective manner. Reflects science and education from the American Heart Association Guidelines Update for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC).

The AHA’s Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED Course is designed 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. What does this course teach?

  • First aid basics

  • Medical emergencies

  • Injury emergencies

  • Environmental emergencies

  • Preventing illness and injury

  • Adult CPR and AED use

  • Opioid-associated life-threatening emergencies

  • Optional modules in Child CPR AED and Infant CPR

​

Basic Life Support (BLS) Training:

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).

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

​

Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) Training:

The AHA’s ACLS course builds on the foundation of lifesaving BLS skills, emphasizing the importance of continuous, high-quality CPR. Reflects science and education from the American Heart Association Guidelines Update for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC)

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

​

Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) for Experienced Providers Training:

ACLS for Experienced Providers goes beyond the core ACLS training by offering critical thinking opportunities for those advanced, experienced, healthcare professionals who use ACLS on a regular basis. The goal of ACLS EP is to improve outcomes in complex cardiovascular, respiratory and other (e.g., metabolic, toxicologic) emergencies by expanding on core ACLS guidelines and encouraging critical thinking and decision-making strategies. Through cooperative learning and active participation in case-based scenarios, learners enhance their skills in the differential diagnosis and treatment of prearrest, arrest and postarrest patients.

The AHA’s ACLS EP Course is designed 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

 

Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Training:

PALS is geared towards healthcare providers who respond to emergencies in infants and children and for personnel in emergency response, emergency medicine, intensive care and critical care units. Upon successful completion of the course, students receive a course completion card, valid for two years.

The PALS Provider Course aims to improve outcomes for pediatric patients by preparing healthcare providers to effectively recognize and intervene in patients with respiratory emergencies, shock, and cardiopulmonary arrest by using high‐performance team dynamics and high‐quality individual skills. The course includes a series of case scenario practices with simulations that reinforce important concepts.

  • Includes realistic, clinical scenarios that encourage active participation – delivered through actual pediatric patient videos and lifelike simulations

  • Comprehensive and includes our systematic approach to assess and treat pediatric patients in emergency situations

  • Hands-on class format to reinforce skills proficiency

  • Co-branded with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

 

Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Plus Course Training:

The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics collaborated to develop PALS Plus, a pediatric advanced life support course designed for more experienced pediatric healthcare professionals seeking advanced educational content. This course teaches more than the standard PALS curriculum through the addition of 9 PALS Advanced eLearning Modules related to pediatric emergencies.

The full course includes an online portion consisting of HeartCode® PALS Online and the student’s selection of at least 6 of the 9 PALS Plus Advanced eLearning Modules, followed by a HeartCode PALS hands-on skills session with an authorized AHA PALS Instructor.

After successful completion of all PALS Plus Provider Course components, students will receive a PALS Plus Provider eCard (a PALS Provider eCard with a special designation of “PALS Plus”), valid for 2 years. Students may select from the following modules:

  • Advanced Airway Management

  • Child Abuse

  • Toxicology

  • Trauma—Overview and Approach

  • Technologically Dependent Child

  • Sedation and Analgesia

  • Post–Cardiac Arrest Care

  • Ultrasound

  • Congenital Heart Disease

​

Who should take this course?

The PALS Plus Course is for healthcare providers who either direct or participate in the management of respiratory and/or cardiovascular emergencies, cardiopulmonary arrest, and other emergent and critical conditions in pediatric patients. This includes personnel in emergency response, emergency medicine, intensive care, and critical care units such as physicians, physician assistants, hospitalists, advanced practice/registered nurses, advanced level prehospital providers, and others who desire additional advanced educational content beyond the traditional PALS course.

 

Pediatric Emergency Assessment, Recognition and Stabilization (PEARS) Course Training:

The AHA’s PEARS (Pediatric Emergency Assessment, Recognition and Stabilization) 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 AHA’s PEARS Course is designed for healthcare providers and others who might encounter pediatric emergency situations during their work, 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

What does this course teach?

  • Systematic pediatric assessment

  • Recognition and stabilization of respiratory emergencies

  • Recognition and stabilization of shock emergencies

  • Recognition and stabilization of cardiopulmonary arrest

  • Resuscitation team concept

 

Advanced Stroke Life Support (ASLS) Course Training:

The American Heart Association, in partnership with The University of Miami’s Gordon Center, is excited to announce a new stroke education course for in-hospital and prehospital healthcare professionals. The new Advanced Stroke Life Support (ASLS®) Blended Learning Course will educate healthcare professionals to identify, evaluate, and manage patients with stroke.

Designed for all healthcare professionals who are involved in the management of acute stroke patients, or who work at hospitals that meet the education requirements for Stroke Center Certification. This includes personnel in emergency response, emergency medicine, neurology, intensive care, stroke care and critical care units such as physicians, nurses, and paramedics, and others who need an ASLS course completion card for job or other requirements.

Prehospital Provider Course:

  • Highlights the principles of prehospital stroke management that make up the current standard of care, such as determining when to call a stroke alert and quickly transport the patient to the nearest appropriate facility

  • Explains how to communicate the patient’s symptoms, time of onset, and neurologic exam clearly and succinctly with hospital personnel

In-Hospital Provider Course:

  • Focuses on the importance of an organized approach to treating stroke patients for improved outcomes

  • Discusses the etiologic evaluation and secondary stroke prevention for stroke patients

  • Describes the management of goals for acute ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, and subarachnoid hemorrhage

  • Outlines post-acute care management including supportive medical care, rehabilitation, and discharge planning for stroke patients

bottom of page