American Heart Association Courses | BLS- ACLS – PALS

Our website is regularly updated, with new changes happening every day.  Be sure to check back often to see what’s new.

Our website is regularly updated, with new changes happening every day.  Be sure to check back often to see what’s new.  

81-28A Margaret Place Queens, NY

Menu
Logo of GoACLS featuring colorful text and a tagline about medical training for professionals.
Menu
Medical training equipment used for BLS, ACLS, and PALS courses.

CLASS

Registration

New 2025 PALS Course FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the American Heart Association's 2025 PALS Provider Course?

The Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Provider Course has been updated to reflect new science in the 2025 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC. The goal of the PALS Provider Course is 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.
This course uses pre-course preparation, didactic instruction, and active participation in learning stations and simulated cases.

  • In the 2025 PALS Provider Course, students will learn and practice
  • Skills:
  • Performing child and infant CPR
  • Using oxygen delivery and airway management equipment
  • Establishing intraosseous (IO) access and a method for giving rapid fluid boluses
  • Using electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring
  • Providing defibrillation/cardioversion
  • Pediatric assessment: A systematic approach Medical management:
  • 4 types of acute respiratory problems
  • 4 types of acute circulatory problems
  • 4 types of acute cardiac problems, including cardiac arrest
  • Leadership: 
  • Communication and other important elements of team dynamics as they relate to resuscitation
  • High Performance Teams: 
  • Numerous rounds of practice and testing to improve the choreography of team resuscitation
  • The new PALS Course includes the following changes:
  • Feedback Devices
  • Feedback devices are recommended for use during CPR training for health care professionals and lay rescuers.
  • Single Chain of Survival
  • A single Chain of Survival is intended to apply to adult and pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest and out of hospital cardiac arrest. In creating this singular chain, it is acknowledged that before cardiac arrest, prevention and preparedness can both avoid the need for and optimize resuscitation.
  • Scripted Debriefing
  • Scripted debriefing involves the creation of a written plan for debriefing students during or after life support training. Standardized debriefing helps to maintain consistency in the delivery of debriefings across training centers and resuscitation programs.
  • Use of Cognitive Aids
  • Cognitive aids are resources that provide prompts aimed at encouraging recall of information and increasing the likelihood of correct performance and behaviors. It may be reasonable for health care professionals to use cognitive aids during resuscitation.
  • CPR and Resuscitation
  • For infants and children in cardiac arrest, interruptions in CPR should be minimized and pauses in chest compressions should be less than 10 seconds. 
  • For infants, rescuers should compress the sternum with the heel of 1 hand or use the 2 thumb-encircling hands technique. If the rescuer cannot physically encircle the chest, it is recommended to compress the chest with the heel of 1 hand.
  • For infants and children in cardiac arrest with initial non-shockable rhythm, it is reasonable to administer the initial dose of epinephrine as early as possible.
  • For infants and children with invasive airways in place during CPR, end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) monitoring may be considered to monitor CPR quality.
  • Post-Cardiac Arrest Care – Prognostication
  • It is recommended that health care professionals consider multiple modalities when they are  predicting neurological outcomes (favorable or unfavorable after resuscitation from cardiac arrest  in infants and children).
  • The usefulness of cough or gag reflexes or response to pain to support a favorable or unfavorable neurological prognosis at any time point after cardiac arrest in infants and children is not well established.
  • When interpreted in the context of other prognostic criteria, it is reasonable to use electroencephalography up to 72 hours after cardiac arrest in infants and children to support a favorable or unfavorable neurological prognosis.
  • Foreign Body Airway Obstruction
  • For children with severe foreign-body airway obstruction (FBAO), repeated cycles of 5 back blows alternating with 5 abdominal thrusts should be performed until the object is expelled or the child becomes unresponsive (see the new FBAO algorithm). Rescuers should activate the emergency response system.
  • For infants with severe FBAO, repeated cycles of 5 back blows alternating with 5 chest thrusts should be performed until the object is expelled or the infant becomes unresponsive. Rescuers should activate the emergency response system .
  • PBLS Practice and Testing
  • Child and Infant CPR practice and testing stations are designed to reflect CPR more realistically. Each round of practice and testing has increased in duration to require switching of the compressor, utilizing the CPR Coach, and recognizing limitations.
 
  • The minimum course completion requirements include:
  • Participation in the classroom course, including completion of all learning stations Completion of the open-resource written exam with a minimum score of 84% Passing the 1- and 2-Rescuer Child BLS with AED and 1- and 2-Rescuer Infant BLS Skills Tests
  • Passing 2 PALS core case scenarios as a team member or team leader (1 cardiac and 1 respiratory or shock), providing appropriate medical treatment and demonstrating effective team dynamics
  • Required skills stations include:
  • Child CPR and AED
  • Infant CPR
  • Airway Management
  • Rhythm Disturbances/Electrical Therapy
  • Vascular Access
 

No.

Yes. The PALS Update Course will also require completion of Prework and the Precourse Self Assessment.

The PALS Course is for healthcare providers who either direct or participate in the management of respiratory and/or cardiovascular emergencies and cardiopulmonary arrest in pediatric patients. This includes personnel in emergency response, emergency medicine, intensive care, and critical care units such as physicians, nurses, paramedics, and others who need a PALS course completion card for job or other requirements.

  • Before taking PALS, students should have a mastery of infant and child BLS skills. 
  • Students should also:
  • Be able to recognize a variety of heart rhythms
  • Be familiar with different types of airway management tools and how they are used
  • Have knowledge of the drugs commonly used in the PALS algorithms and flowcharts
  • Understand the Systematic Approach Algorithm and the “evaluate-identify-intervene” sequence
 
  • The following PALS resources are available to students at eLearning.heart.org:
  • Mandatory Pre-course Self-Assessment
  • Pre-course Preparation Checklist
  • Video Lessons (Pre-course Work)
  • PALS Supplementary Information
 
  • The Pre-course Self-Assessment is an online tool that evaluates a student’s knowledge in 3 sections:
  •  rhythm recognition, pharmacology, and practical application. 
  • Students complete the assessment before the course to help evaluate their proficiency and determine the need for additional review and practice before the course. 
  • All students must complete the Pre-course Self-Assessment and achieve a score of at least 70% before taking the PALS Course. 
  • Students must print their successful scoring report and bring it with them to class.
 

Students need to make sure they are prepared for the PALS Provider Course to minimize the risk of failing the course. Market research indicates a significantly favorable response from Instructors on making the Pre-course Self-Assessment mandatory. The need for the mandatory Pre-course Self-Assessment has increased due to more non-traditional students taking PALS.

The online Pre-course Self-Assessment cannot be duplicated in a printed format since it measures knowledge gaps based on how students answer questions as they move through the assessment. A written version would not be able to adequately assess knowledge.

  • Approximate times for each version of the PALS Provider Course are listed below (student-instructor ratio: 6:1):
  • PALS ILT Full Course: 12.5 hours with breaks; 11 hours and 40 minutes without breaks
  • PALS ILT Traditional Course: 17 hours and 30 minutes with breaks; 15 hours and 50 minutes without breaks
  • PALS ILT Update Course: 8 hours and 45 minutes with breaks; 8 hours and 5 minutes without breaks 
  • HeartCode® PALS Hands-On Session: 5 hours 30 minutes (without optional lessons)
 

Yes. The AHA allows Instructors to add BLS skills testing and an exam to provide both a BLS Provider eCard and a PALS Provider eCard upon successful completion of the PALS course. If a BLS Provider card is to be issued, a BLS Instructor must be present to complete the adult CPR skills tests as well as the exam. Note that offering testing for BLS skills and administering the BLS exam will add time to the PALS Course.

 Renewal of BLS skills during a PAL’S class should be a preplanned option, with registration for the BLS portion to allow for both the students and the instructor to prepare.

 

The AHA has adopted an open-resource policy for exams. Open resource means that students may use resources as a reference while completing the exam. Resources could include the provider manual, either in printed form or as an eBook on personal devices, any notes the student took during the provider course, the 2025 Handbook of ECC for Healthcare Providers, the AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC, posters, etc. Open resource does not mean open discussion with other students or the instructor. Students may not interact with each other during the exam.

 

Yes. The AHA has applied for CE for the PALS Provider Course. 

Official accreditation statement(s) to follow.


Class Schedules

Original & Renewal Schedules