CPR, BLS and ACLS Questions — Answered

Pick the course your role requires: BLS Provider for healthcare workers and clinical students. Complete the class with an American Heart Association Training Center like Cardiac Edge, pass the hands-on skills evaluation, and your official AHA certification is issued the same day. Start with the full class lineup.

Online-only cards with no hands-on skills evaluation are widely rejected by employers, hospitals, and nursing programs. The legitimate online path is AHA blended learning: complete the HeartCode online course, then pass an in-person skills session with an AHA Instructor. The AHA requires a hands-on skills evaluation for every provider-level certification.

In-person classes are fully instructor-led from start to finish. Blended learning (HeartCode) moves the lecture portion online and finishes with an in-person skills session. Both end in the same official AHA certification. What employers reject is a certification with no hands-on component at all.

In Central Florida, hospital systems, nursing programs, and most clinical employers require current American Heart Association certification, with BLS Provider as the standard for clinical roles. If you are unsure, your HR department or program coordinator can confirm, but AHA is the accepted standard.

BLS is CPR at the healthcare-provider level. The BLS Provider course covers high-quality adult, child, and infant CPR, AED use, choking relief, and team resuscitation at the depth clinical employers require.

Scheduled classes run throughout the week with certification issued the same day. If you already hold a current card, a renewal class is shorter than an initial. If you have completed a HeartCode online course, you only need the in-person skills session. Check the class schedule for the next date.

Genuine AHA certification is never free, because every official card carries an AHA certification fee. Free online certificates without a hands-on skills evaluation are the cards employers turn away. Cardiac Edge keeps pricing flat and transparent, with 15% discounts for groups of three or more, active military, and returning students.

An initial AHA BLS Provider class at Cardiac Edge is $75, and a BLS renewal is $65 for providers with a current, unexpired AHA card. The HeartCode BLS hands-on skills session is also $65. Your official AHA certification fee is included, with no hidden add-ons.

Initial BLS classes typically run three to four hours depending on class size. Renewal classes move faster for current providers, typically about two and a half hours. Every class includes the full hands-on skills evaluation the AHA requires.

Yes. Your official AHA BLS Provider certification is issued the same day you complete your skills evaluation, delivered digitally so you can download, print, or share it immediately.

Initial is the full course, for first-time students or anyone whose card has expired. Renewal is the faster track for providers holding a current, unexpired AHA BLS card.

Once your card expires, the AHA requires the full initial course, and there is no grace period. If your card is still current, book the renewal before it expires and keep the shorter, less expensive track.

Central Florida nursing and allied health programs require current AHA BLS Provider certification, typically before clinical rotations begin. Confirm exact timing with your program, and make sure your card comes from an AHA Training Center, because that is what programs verify.

Comfortable clothing you can kneel and perform compressions in. Scrubs or athletic wear are perfect. All course materials and equipment are provided, so just arrive about ten minutes early to check in.

Your instructor provides remediation, coaches you through the technique, and rechecks you, usually during the same session. Most students who need remediation pass on the recheck.

There is no strict minimum age, but the course assumes a healthcare-provider context, and most students are 16 or older. Younger students enrolled in healthcare programs should contact us to confirm enrollment.

An initial AHA ACLS class at Cardiac Edge is $199, and a renewal is $149 for providers holding a current, unexpired AHA ACLS card. Active military and returning students receive 15% off, and your official AHA certification is included.

The ACLS course assumes you can already perform high-quality BLS, because strong compressions, ventilation, and AED use are the foundation of every ACLS scenario. Most employers require providers to hold both current cards. If your BLS has lapsed, take care of BLS first or ask us about scheduling both.

Two years. Renew before your card expires to stay on the shorter, less expensive renewal track.

An expired card means the full initial course, because the AHA has no grace period. Inside your validity window you qualify for the $149 renewal; after it, you are back to the $199 initial. Book the renewal before your card expires.

It is an advanced course, but it is designed to be passed by prepared providers. You practice rhythms, medications, and megacode scenarios hands-on before you are evaluated, and instructors provide remediation if you need another attempt at a station.

Not legitimately. The AHA path with an online component is HeartCode ACLS: the cognitive portion online, followed by a required in-person skills session. Any ACLS renewal with no hands-on evaluation is not an AHA certification and is routinely rejected by employers.

Rhythm interpretation, resuscitation pharmacology, airway management, synchronized cardioversion, transcutaneous pacing, post-arrest care, and team-based megacode scenarios. It is the certification that proves you can run the room when the rhythm goes bad.

Yes. For ACLS, the AHA requires the precourse self-assessment plus precourse preparation work, completed before class. It is available for free on the AHA website at elearning.heart.org.

Nurses, paramedics, physicians, PAs, NPs, and any provider who responds to cardiovascular emergencies. ED, ICU, telemetry, cath lab, anesthesia, and prehospital roles are the most common.

Renewals run noticeably faster than initial classes because we are sharpening skills, not building from zero. Exact start times and durations are listed with each date on the class schedule.

It is the in-person half of AHA blended learning. You complete the HeartCode online course on your own schedule, then meet an AHA Instructor for hands-on skills practice and evaluation. Pass the session and your full AHA certification is issued.

BLS and ACLS skills sessions across Central Florida. One page covers every course: see our skills sessions page.

Yes. Blended learning ends in the identical official AHA certification: same card, same two-year validity, fully accepted by employers, hospitals, and nursing programs.

Typically one to two hours. The course is adaptive and responds to your performance, so completion time varies by provider.

Your HeartCode online completion certificate, plus clothing you can kneel and perform compressions in. We provide all equipment.

Skills sessions are much shorter than full classes because the cognitive portion is already complete. Your session covers hands-on practice, the skills evaluation, and same-day certification issuance, and exact timing is confirmed when you book.

A HeartCode BLS skills session is $65 with your official AHA certification included. For ACLS skills session pricing, see our skills sessions page or contact us.

BLS is $75 initial and $65 renewal. ACLS is $199 initial and $149 renewal. A HeartCode BLS skills session is $65. Every price includes your official AHA certification fee: flat pricing, no hidden add-ons.

Yes, two of them. For classes at our locations, bring three or more participants to the same class and everyone in the group receives 15% off. For training at your location, groups of more than six participants qualify for group rates quoted by team size.

Yes. Active military receive 15% off any class, applied at registration with valid ID.

Yes. Students who have certified with us before receive 15% off when they come back, including renewals. It is our way of making your two-year renewal cycle easy to keep with us.

One discount per registration. We apply the best discount you qualify for.

No. The price you see is flat and includes your official AHA certification. No materials fee, no card fee, no surprises.

Yes. For group or at-your-location training invoiced to an employer or institution, contact us to arrange payment terms. Individual registrations accept all major credit and debit cards.

Group and at-your-location training is quoted by team size: the more providers you certify at once, the better the per-person rate. Submit a Train at Your Location request with your headcount and we will put a quote together.

ACLS is an advanced certification: rhythm interpretation, pharmacology, cardioversion and pacing practice, and team-based megacode scenarios. More equipment, more instruction, more depth.

Nothing is lost when the card is. Sign in at ecards.heart.org with the email you used for class and you can re-access, download, and print your card any time. If you cannot access that email or account, contact us and we will help you through the AHA retrieval process.

Go to ecards.heart.org, choose the student option, and sign in with the email address you registered with. Your eCard is stored there permanently and can be downloaded as a PDF or shared with an employer.

Yes. Every AHA certification lives at ecards.heart.org. Students access their own cards there, and employers verify cards there using the card number.

Scan the QR code printed on the certification. It takes you directly to the American Heart Association's verification of your card. Employers can also enter the card number at ecards.heart.org. If a card cannot be verified there, it is not a genuine AHA certification.

Open your card digitally: a green border means valid, and a red border means expired. You can also check the renewal date printed on the card.

The same day you complete your class or skills session, typically within hours. If 48 hours pass without it, check your spam folder, then contact us and we will track it down with the AHA.

Yes. Your certification is digital-first. Download it as a PDF, print it for a badge or file, or share a verification link directly with your employer.

At ecards.heart.org using the card number. They see your name, course, issue date, and expiration date without needing your login.

Yes. The renewal date is printed on the card, and that is when your certification must be renewed by.

Yes. Every certification we issue is an official American Heart Association certification, issued the same day and verifiable at ecards.heart.org.

At our Orlando and Celebration locations, and at your facility anywhere in Central Florida through our Train at Your Location program.

All of Central Florida: Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Volusia, Brevard, Polk, and Sumter counties.

Yes. We serve every town across our eight-county service area, from Orlando and Kissimmee to Sanford, Clermont, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, Lakeland, and The Villages. See our areas served page.

Yes, that is a core part of what we do: instructor, manikins, AEDs, and same-day certification at your location, scheduled around your team. Submit a Train at Your Location request.

The class schedule page is always the most current picture of upcoming dates, times, and locations.

Classes are scheduled with working providers in mind: late-morning and evening start times rather than early mornings, so day-shift and night-shift providers can both make it work. Exact times are listed with each class date.

It is a long day and depends on the calendar, but it can sometimes be arranged. Many providers take them on consecutive days instead. Contact us and we will coordinate both.

Scheduled weekend dates appear on the class schedule when available, and weekend group training at your facility can often be arranged through an at-your-location request.

Book as soon as you know your date. Classes are intentionally small so every student gets real hands-on time, and small classes fill. If your card is close to expiring, do not wait for the final week.