The American Heart Association created their PALS classes and AHA PALS Renewal Courses in the early to mid 1980’s in response to the need for resuscitation guidelines and trainings to assist health care professionals in providing care to children and infants. PALS has since given health care professionals the skills and knowledge they need to respond to and treat critically ill infants and children suffering from cardiac arrest or other cardiopulmonary emergencies, whether in or out of the hospital.
AHA PALS and AHA PALS renewal classes follow a standardized curriculum and use mock clinical situations and learning stations to teach students life-saving skills. They learn to work as individuals, as team members, and as team leaders. AHA PALS courses use realistic simulation to reinforce major health care concepts such as competency in basic life support care, heart attack management, and other critical cardiovascular emergency activities. It also recognizes the importance of efficient team interaction and communication.
Becoming AHA PALS Certified
Individuals must complete the AHA PALS course to obtain their PALS certification. AHA PALS and AHA PALS renewal certification is intended for health care professionals such as paediatricians, family and emergency physicians, physician assistants, paramedics, nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, and others who administer advanced life support in pediatric emergencies.
To participate in the course, students must have completed an AHA BLS (basic life support) health care provider course or an American Red Cross BLS course for professional rescuers. They also need to know PALS pharmacology and be experienced in interpreting ECG output. They must also complete the pre-course material sent to them when they enrolled.
Acquiring AHA PALS Certification And Keeping It With AHA PALS Renewal Courses
Upon passing the PALS course work and examination, participants are given their PALS provider course completion card. This card is valid for 2 years, at which time they must complete AHA PALS Renewal Courses to retain their certification. This process must be repeated every 2 years for as long as they are actively involved in pediatric cardiovascular emergency health care.
If you are a health care professional looking to advance your clinical practise, it is time to obtain your AHA PALS certification in order to provide the best medical care possible to the community. This can be done through approved online AHA PALS providers or by attending AHA PALS classes run by hospitals or medical schools. If you want your PALS certification right away, you can take your PALS course online and complete it at your own pace. If you prefer to learn in a classroom setting, you should enroll in one of the PALS course offered by hospitals or medical schools.
The American Heart Association established paediatric advanced life support so that health care practitioners can successfully respond to and treat critically injured infants and children suffering from cardiac arrest and other cardiopulmonary emergencies, either in hospital or elsewhere. AHA PALS certification and AHA PALS renewal courses can be done entirely in a classroom setting or by enrolling in online blended classes that have both online and a classroom component.
