CPR training business glossary

Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support, the American Heart Association’s course for healthcare professionals who respond to cardiovascular emergencies such as cardiac arrest. It is taught in a classroom or as HeartCode blended learning, and the course completion card is valid for two years. People renewing can take the shorter ACLS Update Course.

Related: JoinCPR for AHA training centers Source: AHA: ACLS course options

An automated external defibrillator: a portable device for someone in sudden cardiac arrest that analyzes the heart’s rhythm and, if needed, delivers a shock to help it return to an effective rhythm. It is built to be easy to use, and CPR courses teach students to use one alongside CPR, practicing on training units called AED trainers.

Related: Training equipment you need Source: American Red Cross: What is an AED?

An independent business or organization that has an agreement with the American Heart Association to provide its CPR, first aid and advanced cardiovascular care training. A Training Center issues the AHA course completion cards for every class its instructors and Training Sites teach, and sets its own class fees and schedules.

Related: JoinCPR for AHA training centers Source: AHA: Course FAQs

A location or organization that teaches AHA courses under an AHA Training Center rather than holding its own agreement with the AHA. Its instructors align with the Training Center, which issues the cards. Only an existing Training Site can apply to become a Training Center.

Related: JoinCPR for AHA training centers Source: AHA: Become an AHA Training Center (PDF)

An AHA instructor’s connection to the Training Centers or Training Sites they teach for. After finishing the instructor course and receiving an instructor eCard, a new instructor requests alignment in the AHA’s Atlas system, and becomes an approved instructor once the Training Center accepts it.

Related: How to become a CPR instructor Source: AHA: How do I become an AHA instructor? (PDF)

A course split into an online part the student completes on their own, followed by an in-person skills session where an instructor checks their skills. The AHA’s HeartCode courses and the Red Cross’s online-plus-classroom courses work this way; the Red Cross gives students up to 90 days after the online part to attend the skills session.

Related: Virtual and blended classes Source: American Red Cross: Skills sessions

Basic Life Support: the care first responders, healthcare providers and public safety professionals give someone in cardiac arrest, in respiratory distress or with an obstructed airway, using CPR, an AED and airway clearing for all ages. BLS courses from the AHA and the Red Cross are designed for healthcare professionals, and the certification lasts two years.

Related: How long is CPR certification good for? Source: American Red Cross: What is BLS?

The proof a student gets for completing a course: a printed card, an eCard or a digital certificate issued by the certifying body or the training business. It shows the student’s name, the course, the date and when the certification expires or should be renewed, and often a code employers can use to check it.

Related: Certification tracking

The date a certification stops being current, usually two years after the class for CPR, BLS and first aid. Certifying bodies set it in one of two ways: cards from the AHA, NSC and HSI are valid through the end of the month, two years on, while Red Cross and ECSI certificates expire on the same date two years later.

Related: How long is CPR certification good for?, Certification tracking

The list of students registered for a class. Instructors use it on class day to record who attended and who passed, and afterwards to report the class to the certifying body, which issues the cards from it.

Related: Class rosters

CPR, AED and first aid training an employer books for its own staff, usually as a private class at the workplace or on a date set aside for them. The employer usually pays for the whole group, and because everyone certified together, their certifications come due for renewal together.

Related: Corporate training

A code that unlocks an online course for one student, such as the online part of an AHA HeartCode course, which the AHA’s eLearning site calls a license. Training businesses buy them in advance and give one to each student who registers, so the student can finish the online part before the skills session.

Related: Keycode banks, Virtual and blended classes Source: AHA: HeartCode

The American Heart Association’s digital course completion card, issued by the Training Center once the instructor’s class roster is complete. AHA eCards are valid proof of completion for employers, show the renewal date as a month and year, and can be checked online with the eCard code or the QR code on the card.

Related: How long is CPR certification good for?, Certification tracking Source: AHA: Course card information

The immediate care given to someone who is injured or suddenly ill until medical help takes over, such as controlling bleeding or caring for burns and allergic reactions. First aid is often taught with CPR and AED, and OSHA requires workplaces with no infirmary, clinic or hospital nearby to have someone adequately trained to give it.

Related: JoinCPR for first aid and safety training Source: OSHA: 29 CFR 1910.151, Medical services and first aid

The American Heart Association’s blended learning courses, such as HeartCode BLS, ACLS and PALS. Students do the online part at their own pace, then attend a hands-on skills session with an AHA instructor, or with a voice-assisted manikin where available, and receive the same course completion card as a classroom course.

Related: Virtual and blended classes, JoinCPR for AHA training centers Source: AHA: HeartCode

The American Heart Association’s first aid, CPR and AED courses for people with little or no medical training, taken for a job, a regulatory requirement or simply to be prepared. Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED is the one for people who need OSHA-compliant first aid and CPR training for work, and Heartsaver cards are valid for two years.

Related: JoinCPR for AHA training centers Source: AHA: Heartsaver courses

Watching an instructor teach a real class to confirm they teach it to the certifying body’s standards. New AHA instructors complete a monitored class as part of the instructor course, in person, and every AHA instructor must be monitored again before their instructor status expires, every two years.

Related: How to become a CPR instructor Source: AHA: 2025 BLS and Heartsaver instructor renewal bulletin (PDF)

A stock of access codes a training business has bought, such as keys for an online course, eBook or eCard, kept in one place and handed out to students as they register. In JoinCPR, a keycode bank assigns and emails a code automatically at checkout and shows how many codes are left.

Related: Keycode banks

Pediatric Advanced Life Support, the American Heart Association’s course for healthcare providers who respond to emergencies in infants and children. It is offered in a classroom, as blended learning or self-guided with a CPR Verification Station, and the PALS card is valid for two years.

Related: JoinCPR for AHA training centers Source: AHA: PALS

An organization or individual licensed by the American Red Cross to teach its courses independently. A Licensed Training Provider trains outside customers and companies, while an Authorized Provider trains its own people. A Red Cross instructor must be affiliated with a Training Provider, or teach for the Red Cross, before teaching a class.

Related: JoinCPR for Red Cross training providers Source: American Red Cross: Licensed Training and Authorized Providers

A shorter course that renews a certification for another two years, for people who are still certified or only recently expired. The Red Cross marks them Review, Recertification or Challenge, the AHA offers a BLS Renewal Course and an ACLS Update Course, and HSI’s renewal classes are only for people who are currently certified.

Related: How to renew CPR or BLS certification Source: American Red Cross: CPR renewal

Resuscitation Quality Improvement, the American Heart Association’s performance improvement program that gives healthcare providers short CPR skills sessions every quarter, a low-dose, high-frequency approach meant to stop skills from fading between classes. It is run by RQI Partners, a partnership between the AHA and Laerdal Medical.

Related: JoinCPR for AHA training centers Source: RQI Partners: About us

A printed list of the students in a class, with a place for each to sign on arrival, and a column per day for a multi-day class. Instructors keep it with the class records as proof of attendance.

Related: Class rosters and sign-in sheets

The hands-on test in a CPR course, where an instructor or a feedback manikin confirms each student performs the skills correctly, such as compressions, breaths and using an AED. In a blended course it is the in-person part after the online lesson, which the AHA and the Red Cross call a skills session.

Related: Virtual and blended classes, Recording pass or fail on the roster Source: American Red Cross: Skills sessions

An inquiry from a company, school or group asking a training business to run a class for its people, with the course, the number of people, preferred dates and a location. Answering quickly with a date and a price is what turns a request into a booked class.

Related: Corporate training

A queue of people who want a seat in a class that is full. When a seat frees up, the next person in line is offered it for a limited time before it passes to the person after them.

Related: Automatic waitlist

A student who arrives on class day without having registered. The instructor adds them to the roster, takes payment and collects any paperwork on the spot, so their attendance and certification are recorded like everyone else’s.

Related: Class rosters, Online registration