AHA ACLS Initial

Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) is a set of Guidelines or protocols put in place by the American Heart Association for the emergency treatment of life-threatening cardiovascular and respiratory conditions that cause cardiac arrest. This training class teaches advanced medical procedures, medications, and defibrillation. Upon completion of the certification course, students will receive a same day American Heart Association ACLS Provider Card valid for two years.

This course teaches the importance of preventing cardiac arrest, high-performance teams, continuous high-quality CPR, systems of care, recognition and intervention of cardiopulmonary arrest, post-cardiac arrest care, acute dysrhythmias, stroke, and acute coronary syndromes (ACS)

  • Updated to reflect new science in the 2020 American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR & ECC, as well as the Update to the ASA Ischemic Stroke Guidelines
  • This course is designed for healthcare professionals who direct or manage cardiopulmonary arrest or other cardiovascular emergencies; personnel in emergency response, emergency medicine, intensive care, and critical care units; physicians, nurses, and paramedics; and others who need an ACLS course completion card for job or other requirements
  • This manual includes the systematic approach to a cardiopulmonary emergency, effective team communication, and the ACLS cases and algorithms.
  •  Includes the ACLS Reference Card Set (#20-1120; also sold separately).

Course content: After completing the course, students should be able to:

  • Define systems of care
  • Apply the BLS, Primary, and Secondary Assessments sequence for a systematic evaluation of adult patients
  • Discuss how the use of a rapid response team (RRT) or medical emergency team (MET) may improve patient outcomes
  • Discuss how the use of a rapid response team (RRT) or medical emergency team (MET) may improve patient outcomes
  • Discuss early recognition and management of ACS, including appropriate disposition
  • Discuss early recognition and management of stroke, including appropriate disposition
  • Recognize bradycardias and tachycardias that may result in cardiac arrest or complicate resuscitation outcome
  • Perform early management of bradycardias and tachycardias that may result in cardiac arrest or complicate resuscitation outcome
  • Model effective communication as a member or leader of a high-performance team
  • Recognize the impact of team dynamics on overall team performance
  • Recognize respiratory arrest
  • Perform early management of respiratory arrest
  • Recognize cardiac arrest
  • Perform prompt, high-quality BLS including prioritizing early chest compressions and integrating early automated external defibrillator (AED) use
  • Perform early management of cardiac arrest until termination of resuscitation or transfer of care, including immediate post–cardiac arrest care
  • Evaluate resuscitative efforts during a cardiac arrest through continuous assessment of CPR quality, monitoring the patient’s physiologic response, and delivering real-time feedback to the team

 At the end of this class students will lead the team in a respiratory case scenario and a megacode scenario as well as a 50 question open book test.