CPR, AED & FIRST AID

OFFICIAL SOURCES

• American Heart Association: find a CPR and first aid course →

  Authorized AHA Training Centers and instructors. The AHA publishes the official Guidelines for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care.

• American Heart Association: CPR and first aid →
• American Red Cross: take a class →

  Online, in-person and blended first aid, CPR and AED courses.

WHAT TO USE

• An authorized course from one of the two organizations above. Both teach CPR, AED use and first aid, and both offer in-person classes.
• The American Heart Association’s official Guidelines for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care, which its courses are built on.
• A course that ends with a hands-on skills check, so you practise compressions and AED use on real equipment.

WHICH COURSE IS WHICH

“CPR class” means different things to different providers, and picking the wrong tier is the most common (and most expensive) first mistake. The tiers below describe the general landscape — confirm the exact course name your employer or certifying body accepts before you pay for anything.

• Community / lay-responder CPR + AED

  For the general public: coaches, teachers, parents. Covers adult CPR, AED use and choking relief, usually in a single short session. This is the tier most fitness certifications ask for.

• First aid

  Covers bleeding, burns, sprains, fractures and sudden illness rather than cardiac events. Often bundled with CPR + AED in one course — that bundle is usually what a gym or certifying body wants.

• BLS (Basic Life Support)

  The healthcare-provider tier: two-rescuer teams, bag-mask ventilation, deeper algorithms. Only needed if your role is clinical — it is more than a personal trainer requires, and providers know the difference.

• Pediatric modules

  Child and infant CPR and choking are taught differently from adult skills. Anyone working with kids — which is the point of my own path — should make sure the course includes them rather than assuming it does.

WHAT THE HANDS-ON PART ACTUALLY INVOLVES

The skills check is the part people underestimate. You will compress a manikin for two uninterrupted minutes (100–120 per minute, deep enough, letting the chest fully recoil), retrieve and operate an AED trainer while staying verbal with a scenario, and demonstrate rescue breathing or choking response depending on the course. None of it is difficult, but all of it is physical and procedural — reading about compressions is not the same as doing them. That is exactly why an online-only certificate is not accepted anywhere serious.

• Practice the rhythm before class: songs stuck at 100–120 bpm genuinely help in the first sessions.
• Expect to kneel. Wear something you can move in.
• Speak out loud during scenarios even when it feels awkward — the instructors grade the sequence, and mumbling costs points.

GOOD TO KNOW

• Pick the course that matches your purpose. The AHA separates courses for healthcare professionals from courses for the general public who need a completion card, so confirm with your employer or certifying body which one they accept.
• Skills fade. Renew before your card expires.
• If you live outside the United States, choose an authorized provider and check that the card is accepted where you work.

To turn the official outline into weekly hours, use the splitter and printable files on the study guides page. For what to do on exam day itself, see the exam-day checklist. I am still working toward my own certifications (see About), so this page only points to the official sources and shares a planning method.