The American Heart Association’s (AHA) Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) course has been updated to reflect the 2015 American Heart Association Guidelines Update for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (2015 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC). The course builds on the foundation of lifesaving Basic Life Support (BLS) skills, emphasizing the importance of continuous, high-quality CPR. This advanced course highlights the importance of high-performance team dynamics and communication. It focuses on systems of care, recognition and intervention of cardiopulmonary arrest, immediate post-cardiac arrest, acute dysrhythmia, stroke, and acute coronary syndromes. 

The goal of Advanced Cardiac Life Support is to improve outcomes for adult patients of cardiac arrest and other cardiopulmonary emergencies through early recognition and interventions by high-performance teams.

The American Heart Association’s (AHA) Basic Life Support (BLS) course provides the foundational knowledge and applied skills for saving lives after a cardiac arrest. This course teaches basic life support skills for application in both in-facility and prehospital settings. There is a focus on the techniques of providing highquality CPR, and developing high-performing team dynamics. Content is representative of the latest resuscitation science for improved patient outcomes. Students will learn basic life support techniques through realistic scenarios, simulations, and animations depicting rescuers, teams, and patients.

This course introduces students to the principles, processes, methodologies, and analytical tools pertinent to research and data collection across the healthcare sector. Students will learn the best practices of research ranging from identifying a research topic to evaluating sources. Students will learn how to structure research findings and become familiar with how research informs practice across the healthcare field. At the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive grounding in the fundamentals of research for the healthcare practitioner.

The American Heart Association’s (AHA) Basic Life Support (BLS) course provides the foundational knowledge and applied skills for saving lives after a cardiac arrest. This course teaches basic life support skills for application in both in-facility and prehospital settings. There is a focus on the techniques of providing highquality CPR, and developing high-performing team dynamics. Content is representative of the latest resuscitation science for improved patient outcomes. Students will learn basic life support techniques through realistic scenarios, simulations, and animations depicting rescuers, teams, and patients.

The American Heart Association’s (AHA) Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED course is a classroom based, instructor-led course that prepares students to provide first aid, COURSE DESCRIPTIONS CPE COURSES 2026 39 Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), and use an automated external defibrillator (AED) in a safe, timely, and effective manner. The course includes video-based, group interaction, and hands –on coaching and feedback from AHA instructors. Students who complete the course receive a Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED card, valid for two years.

This course focuses on the best practices of infection control. Practitioners will review ways to break the chain of infection and prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Emphasis will be given to modes of transmission of infectious diseases and standard precautions including: hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, safe injection practice, and cough etiquette. Students will become familiar with best practices for cleaning, disinfection, and waste disposal.

This course introduces CPE participants to the environmental health field as well as emerging environmental health challenges. Participants are to explore topics linked to: water and air quality, global warming, ozone depletion, food safety, waste production, communicable and noncommunicable diseases, environmental carcinogens, and emergency management within the local and global context. Introduction to fundamental skills of the profession are to be discussed during the sessions training.

The goal of the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course is to improve the quality of care provided to seriously ill or injured children, resulting in improved medical outcomes. This classroom-based, instructor-led course teaches the important concepts of a systematic approach related to pediatric advanced life support. The PALS course is conducted by an American Heart Association (AHA) PALS Instructor in a classroom setting, supported by video. The course uses a series of 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 course offers life-like skills animations, team dynamics role play, and scenarios appropriate to different types of providers (pre-hospital and in-hospital). During the course, skills are taught in a combination of large-group sessions with videos and through instructor direction, and in small-group learning and testing stations using case-based scenarios with a mannequin and instructor feedback. During skills practice and testing, students are required to function as both a team leader and a team member to learn team dynamics. The course is designed to include both the cognitive portion of training and the psychomotor component of thorough skills practice and testing.