AHA Instructor Courses

An American Heart Association (AHA) Instructor Essentials course teaches the methods needed to effectively instruct others in resuscitation courses.

All AHA instructor candidates must be at least 18 years old to be accepted into an AHA instructor course and have a current AHA provider card for the discipline they wish to teach.

AHA has defined five core competencies for all instructor candidates:

1. Skills: Instructors need to demonstrate mastery in all skills for the courses they teach. This includes both cognitive skills as well as psychomotor skills.

2. Course Delivery: Instructors need to teach AHA materials correctly and as outlined in the appropriate Instructor Manual and Lesson Plans.

3. Testing: Instructors must be able to test students effectively.

4. Professionalism: Instructors need to maintain a high standard of ethics and professionalism when teaching AHA courses.

5. Program Administration: Instructors need to be able to manage time, space, materials, and paperwork in compliance with AHA guidelines.

The Instructor Candidate must:

• Currently have a provider card in the discipline(s) for which he or she is interested in teaching and be proficient in all skills.

• Identify Training Centers accepting new instructors before enrolling in an instructor program (The Training Center hosting the course may not necessarily be the same as the primary designated Training Center); Instructor Essentials courses/Training Centers may be located at www.heart.org/cpr

• Complete an Instructor Candidate Application

• Successfully complete the appropriate discipline-specific online Instructor Essentials course with a certificate of completion brought to the classroom for a hands-on session conducted by Training Facility.

  • (An Instructor Candidate Workbook may be secured from the Training Facility or from the online Instructor Essentials course at eLearning.Heart.org.

  • Faculty may incorporate the cost of Instructor materials into the cost of the course, or the student may purchase materials separately from one of our authorized distributors)

• Meet all renewal requirements for instructor status renewal

  • (All instructors are required to teach a minimum of four Instructor-Led Training (ILT) or skills portions of a HeartCode course)

    • For 100% HeartCode facilities, a skills test may satisfy the monitoring of the instructor

• Register on the AHAnstructorNetwork.org and be accepted and approved by their primary Training Center for issuance of their Instructor ID number from the Network, which must be used to issue course completion cards/eCards;

Note: The instructor card issued by the primary Training Center is valid for 2 years.

AHA Instructor Essentials courses are taught by Training Center Faculty that are specialized in specific disciplines.

Training Center Faculty members acting as Course Directors must be present throughout the entire Instructor Course.

Additional Instructor Essentials course Faculty members must be, at a minimum, current AHA Instructors in the discipline being taught.

Instructor candidates must demonstrate:

• Satisfactory performance of the skills listed in the Faculty Guide for the course

• Thorough knowledge of course organization, course content including appropriate BLS skills, instructor responsibilities, and the AHA guidelines for the specific discipline

• Mastery of the AHA Instructor core competencies

The Instructor Manuals explain the requirements for instructor cards for new and renewing instructors. Refer to the appropriate Instructor Manual. In addition to those details, the following requirements apply:

• The Instructor Monitor Form must be submitted within 10 business days after the monitored course.

• If a deficiency is noted during monitoring, the reviewer may conduct remediation by using any one or a combination of the following:

  • • For a deficiency in skills performance, the candidate may be remediated privately and then allowed to demonstrate and teach the skill successfully during the same course or a future course.

    • For a deficiency in content knowledge, the instructor candidate may be remediated privately or asked to review the current Provider Manual, and then allowed to teach the content successfully during the same course or a future course.

    • For a deficiency in teaching ability or quality, the instructor candidate may be mentored while teaching with the Course Director or instructor/TF member and then monitored again in a future course. The instructor candidate may also be required to repeat the Instructor Essentials course before being monitored again.

    • For a deficiency in content knowledge or skills performance, the Course Director or TF member may require the candidate to take an entire provider or provider renewal course before being monitored again.

• The instructor must register and align with a primary TC on the AHAInstructorNetwork.org to receive the instructor ID number that must be placed on the instructor eCard.

• Within 10 business days after receiving the completed monitor form, the TC for the instructor candidate must issue an instructor eCard. The issue date of the card is the month and 4-digit year in which the course monitoring was successfully completed.

• Questions related to the receipt of an instructor eCard should be directed to the instructor's primary TCC.

• If the instructor candidate transfers to another TC before the initial monitoring takes place, the new TC may issue the instructor eCard after monitoring is completed but must have documentation of the Instructor Essentials course completion and other prerequisites.

An instructor’s status can be renewed only by TCF. Criteria for renewal varies based on discipline. Refer to the appropriate Instructor Manual for the discipline-specific instructor renewal criteria.

Note: An instructor status stays the same regardless of professional status. Some states have a scope of practice issues that are beyond what the AHA can determine.

The AHA is a global company and in some countries, local laws and customs apply that are beyond the AHA’s decisions.

The requirement for instructors to teach a minimum of 4 courses in 2 years to renew instructor status may be waived or extended under special circumstances. These circumstances include but are not limited to the following:

• Call to active military duty (for an instructor who is in the military reserve or National Guard).

• Illness or injury that has caused the instructor to take a leave from employment or teaching duties.

• A limited number of courses offered in an area because of lack of audience or delay of course materials.

The TCC, in consultation with the TF, may decide to waive the teaching requirements for the discipline in question. Consideration should be given to the amount of time an instructor is away from normal employment, the length of delay in the release of materials, and the number of courses taught in relation to the number of teaching opportunities. Documentation supporting the decision must be maintained in the instructor’s file.

All other requirements for renewal must be met as stated above.