Raven EMS Education Program Manual
RAV-140 Basic Life Support (AHA BLS) Course

This course provides the basic knowledge and skills necessary to perform infant, child, and adult CPR and to manage foreign body airway obstruction (NC Community Colleges, 2024).

Course Description

The AHA’s BLS course trains participants to promptly recognize several life-threatening emergencies, give high-quality chest compressions, deliver appropriate ventilations and provide early use of an AED. Reflects science and education from the American Heart Association Guidelines Update for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC). BLS is geared towards prehospital providers, like EMTs, paramedics, fire fighters, and in-facility hospital providers. Upon successful completion of the course, students receive a course completion card, valid for two years. Please contact your employer to ensure that you are selecting the correct course. Emphasis is placed on triage, assessment, and proper management of emergency care. Upon completion, students should be able to perform the infant, child, and adult CPR (Combined course library, 2024; AHA, 2024).

Prerequisites

None

Course Options

• Blended Learning HeartCode: HeartCode BLS uses a personalized adaptive algorithm that sets students on the most efficient path to BLS mastery. Students follow a continuously adapting learning path that is personalized by their own inputs: their performance and their self- reported confidence level related to each probe. The course content is presented in the form of self-directed learning content, probes, and Cognitive Assessment Activities. The student has a choice of completing a pre-hospital or in-hospital contextualized track. After completing the online portion, students will attend a structured, Instructor-led hands-on session that focuses on meaningful skills practice, team scenarios, and skills testing. Where available, students may also complete the hands-on session with a HeartCode compatible manikin. HeartCode BLS is the AHA’s BLS blended learning delivery method. Blended learning is a combination of eLearning, in which a student completes part of the course in a self-directed manner, followed by a hands-on skills session. The online portion of HeartCode BLS can be completed in approximately 1 to 2 hours. Time to complete the hands-on skills session varies from 60 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the experience of the student.
• Classroom: The BLS Instructor-led course teaches both single-rescuer and team basic life support skills for application in both prehospital and in-facility environments, with a focus on High-Quality CPR and team dynamics. Full BLS Provider Course takes approximately 4.5 hours to complete, including skills practice and skills testing. BLS Renewal Course takes approximately 3 hours to complete, including skills practice and testing.

Course Topics

• High-quality CPR for adults, children, and infants
• The AHA Chain of Survival, specifically the BLS components
• Important early use of an AED
• Effective ventilations using a barrier device
• Importance of teams in multirescuer resuscitation and performance as an effective team member during multirescuer CPR
• Relief of foreign-body airway obstruction (choking) for adults and infants

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