Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) Certification

BCLS certification stands for Basic Cardiac Life Support. This certification is offered by the American Heart Association and is intended to ensure that healthcare professionals have the knowledge and skills to respond to cardiac and breathing emergencies. This certification requires a healthcare provider to understand the basics of resuscitation, identify signs of cardiac arrest, and be able to initiate and maintain CPR and other life-saving measures.

Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) are just the same course, designed to teach healthcare professionals the fundamentals of CPR and how to respond to medical emergencies. Both courses cover topics such as Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Automated External Defibrillator (AED) usage, and other cardiovascular life support skills, as well as First aid for infants, children, and adults. Although the titles may differ depending on the organization offering the certificate, the content of the courses is essentially the same.

Online BCLS Certification offers a comprehensive, scenario-based approach to developing your critical thinking and problem-solving skills for better patient outcomes. The training manuals align with the American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care, covering breathing and cardiovascular emergencies, including high-quality CPR, AED, and obstructed airways for adult, child, and infant patients.

You can complete the training online, with interactive modules, video demos, online coursework, and knowledge checks, without needing in-person skills sessions, to earn your BCLS certification.

Online BCLS certification courses provide comprehensive online exams, allowing you to acquire your certification conveniently and efficiently. Our exams consist of 20 multiple-choice questions, and you will receive your score instantly upon completion.

Upon successful completion of certification requirements, you may download a PDF version of your digital certificate as proof. This PDF certification card can be printed and used until your official completion card or BCLS provider card arrives in the mail within 2-5 business days.

Before you take the final BCLS certification exam, You can take advantage of our practice exams and unlimited retakes to ensure you are adequately prepared for the official exam. After you run through the free practice exam, you can be confident that you are ready to take and pass the final test.

BCLS certification is essential for healthcare professionals to ensure they provide the highest quality patient care. This certification provides training in usingCPR and defibrillation, recognizing and responding to heart attack, stroke, and other medical emergencies, and safely and effectively using medical equipment. Additionally, it ensures healthcare professionals stay current with the latest advancements in medical knowledge, enabling them to provide the best care possible.

The BCLS certification course covers the most common BCLS procedures, including performance as an effective team member during team basic life support and other basic cardiovascular life support skills. 

New changes recommended in AHA official guidelines - This module covers the changes to CPR/AED and First Aid protocols since the last guidelines were published. For example, for a rescuer to give high-quality CPR, they should focus on the required rate and depth of chest compressions. Locate the center of the chest and push hard enough to achieve the recommended depth. For adults, use the heels of your hand with fingers interlocked, while children and infants require less pressure, as we will see later.

Chain of Survival - To resuscitate a patient in cardiac arrest, it is essential to follow a sequential set of steps that make up the Chain of Survival. It consists of effective, high-quality CPR, early defibrillation, and advanced life support by highly trained medical professionals and healthcare providers. Without these three crucial steps, there can be no successful resuscitation.

CPR for Adult/Child/Infant - You will learn procedures when administering CPR, depending on a few variables. Infant CPR is used with victims under the age of one. Child CPR is used with victims between the ages of one and the onset of puberty. Adult CPR is used on victims post-pubescent and older. The victim's age and the number of rescuers are the essential variables when staging rescue protocols for single rescuers vs. two rescuers.

Hands-Only CPR - Untrained lay rescuers should provide compression-only (Hands-Only) CPR for adult cardiac arrest victims, with or without dispatcher guidance. The rescuer should continue compression-only CPR until the arrival of an AED or rescuers with additional training. Hands-only CPR can be enough to sustain an adult in certain situations until help arrives.

AED - In this module, you will have the opportunity to learn how an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) device is designed to assess the electrical output of a victim's heart and provide an electrical shock when needed in an adult, special pediatric population with pacemakers.

Choking - Learn about the symptoms of choking. Treatment of conscious adult choking victims. Treatment for an Unconscious Adult Choking Victim, child, and infants. The Heimlich maneuver as an effective technique for children and adults, supported by video demos of this technique, is available as part of the curriculum. In addition, skill-building exercises are available to test your knowledge about severe airway obstruction vs. mild airway obstruction.

First Aid - The first aid module outlines the response sequence and the best way to treat common injuries, including nosebleeds, cuts, poison control burns, and fractures.

Bleeding Control - Learning how to treat bleeding injuries is designed to stop the bleeding and protect the wound from the risk of infection. Bleeding control for special situations like a head wound, nose bleed, and use of a tourniquet to control bleeding when other methods fail.

Shock - BLS trainees will learn about causes of shock-like extreme blood loss, allergic reactions, severe burns, etc. Along with symptoms of Shock and the best treatment for different types of shocks, including Anaphylactic Shock.

Burns - You will learn about three categories, with increasing seriousness, including the attribution of thermal, chemical, electrical, or radiation causes.

Poisoning - This module addresses the posing process through Ingestion (eating or drinking), inhalation (nose and mouth), injection (body tissue or bloodstream), and topical absorption (through the skin). The topic will cover position treatment options in this module based on the type of poison and how it entered the body.

Injuries - Different types of injuries, including muscle injuries, symptoms of injuries, and the RICE procedure to treat wounds.

Broken Bones/Fracture - Bones can break or separate within the joints. It is referred to as a broken bone, a fracture, or a dislocation in the case of separation. The edges of broken bones can be very sharp. As a health care provider, you will learn the best ways to identify different fractures, their severity, and the best short-term treatment option to improve a person's chances of recovery.

Seizures and Strokes - Sudden illnesses due to Seizures. Stroke. Allergic reactions and how to best differentiate between them and best treatment methods for each situation.

Emergency Oxygen Administration - Recognition of medical situations calls for emergency oxygen for effective ventilation, symptoms of hypoxia, best treatment mechanisms, and oxygen concentrations for adult, child, and infant patients. The setting of flow meter, fixed flow systems, and tips for safe oxygen administration.

BLS Test - The last section will test your knowledge gained through the 16 modules. This certification training aims to give you the confidence to deal with real-life emergencies as a healthcare worker. We recommend reviewing all modules to understand how to apply the BLS knowledge to different scenarios.