American Heart Association Course Guidelines
The ACLS provider course builds on the foundation of lifesaving Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers skills, emphasizing the importance of continuous, high-quality CPR. This advanced course highlights the importance of team dynamics and communication, systems of care, and immediate post-cardiac arrest care. ACLS also covers airway management and related pharmacology. Skills are taught in large-group sessions and small-group learning and testing stations where case-based scenarios are presented.
To be successful in any ACLS course, students must be able to identify ECG rhythms and should know pharmacology specific to cardiopulmonary arrest and other cardiopulmonary emergencies before beginning the course. It is strongly recommended that students review the ACLS course materials and complete a pre-course self-assessment using the tools in their student materials before starting the course.
Students need to successfully complete:
- skills competency in all learning stations
- pass the high-quality BLS skills test
- pass the bag-mask ventilation with OPA/NPA insertion skills test
- pass the Mega code test
- pass the ACLS exam with a score of 84% or higher.