Advanced cardiovascular life support is a system that offers urgent care for someone who is in cardiac arrest. ACLS training can make the difference between life and death. Fortunately, you can find local and online courses with a search online.
In the field of medicine, training, and certification in ACLS can qualify you to respond with life-saving skills in a cardiovascular emergency. The knowledge that you acquire will help you identify conditions and how to treat them immediately.
Understanding ACLS
When you study ACLS for certification, you sharpen your skills as a qualified healthcare professional. By becoming certified or renewing regularly, you can maintain skills that make a significant difference in the quality of life for a recipient. The range of experienced healthcare providers who can respond to a cardiac emergency includes doctors, dentists and nurses, paramedics, and anesthesiologists among others. A condition that requires emergency ACLS care calls for your attention as a qualified expert who can take decisive and effective action to produce life-saving outcomes. You provide clinical interventions to treat stroke, cardiac arrest, and other conditions that threaten the life of a patient.
Administering ACLS
The process of delivering advanced cardiovascular life support requires you to use basic methodologies that include the following:
- recognition of cardiac arrest
- chest compressions
- bag-mask devices
- automated external defibrillator
- CPR
- airway management
- management of peri-arrest situations
- management of acute coronary syndrome
- ability to communicate with resuscitation teams
- appropriate pharmacology
Meeting Qualifications
The skill set that you, as a healthcare provider, must possess includes an assessment that checks a patient’s responsiveness, pulse, and breathing along with a clear call for assistance. Cycle 1 requires you to complete 30 chest compressions within 15-18 seconds and deliver two breaths through a barrier device among other life-saving tasks. Cycle 2 requires you to repeat the steps in Cycle 1. The steps that the instructions offer show the correct way to use an automated external defibrillator by activating the device and attaching the pads to the patient. Additionally, analysis of the situation and subsequent requests for a clear space prepare a way for you to deliver a safe shock before safely providing it.
Finding a Type of Training for Certification
A key reason to seek ACLS certification is to expand your skills and abilities as a healthcare professional working in highly sophisticated medical facilities. Training can prepare you for the challenges that you meet in providing advanced resuscitation within a hospital or other healthcare environment. Different approaches to earning certification give you options that may suit your preferences.
Local Classes
Your attendance at a local class provides a reliable way to obtain American Heart Association ACLS certification, and many hospitals prefer that method. In fact, some offer significant discounts to employees. The cost for the course may be as high as $200, so any discount is advantageous. Some educational institutions in your area may offer training in BLS and first aid as well as ACLS. When you choose a training course, keep in mind that most emergency services, as well as hospitals, require American Heart Association-approved ACLS certification. Classes that have the approval of AHA require a hands-on skills test and a written exam.
Online Classes
The convenience of taking classes online may appeal to you, but make sure to examine the description of the course. A search online may produce many websites that purport to offer ACLS certification, but the critical qualification that you need to see is verification that it has the approval of AHA. The effort and expense that you put into a course that does not have approval from AHA may produce nothing of value to you, and it may create an embarrassing experience as well. Most medical facilities in the United States do not recognize any certification for ACLS other than AHA.
If you prefer to study your classes online, you may find several that do have AHA approval. The ones who have it are proud of it, and their websites are sure to cite it as a qualification. Some sites advertise that they use AHA guidelines, but the assurance that you want to find is “AHA-approved.”
Choosing an ACLS Training Course
You have choices among training programs that have AHA approval and others that AHA presents.
- CPR & First Aid Emergency Cardiovascular Care offers classroom training with an AHA instructor. The course provides instruction as well as case-based scenarios that let you actively participate in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. The organization offers ACLS for Experienced Providers (ACLS EP) and ACLS – Instructor-Led Training.
- The American Heart Association offers a self-directed course online or on CD, HeartCode ACLS Part 1, that lets you study at the pace that you prefer. Part 2 evaluates your hands-on skills.
- The American Heart Association offers a classroom course that emphasizes team dynamics and communication as critical aspects of care.
Start Your Search Today
Being trained in ACLS is a life-saving skill worth doing. Finding the right course just takes a bit of research. Fortunately, both in-class and online classes are available but remember to find a course that has the approval of AHA. Start searching online now to find ACLS courses near you.