Most people are not aware of ACLS, including what it stands for and why anyone needs it. However, if you are a medical professional there's a good chance you are required to maintain an active certification card that identifies you understand the theory and techniques associated with Advanced Cardiac Life Support. This site is intended to help you quickly learn some of the basic processes and steps involved in the initial cert or recert process and hopefully make you a little better prepared when it comes time for you to choose your own course.

Most people who are researching this topic on the Internet have already obtained their initial certification at some point in the past and are now looking for a recertification program (or at least researching their recertification options). Because of that, this site is really designed for anybody interested in the recertification process. Having said that, we've also tried to incorporate some basic information as well that would apply to people in need of their initial certification. In the future, we're planning on expanding the site to include full details and information about both topics.

To begin with, though, let's go over some of the recertification basics. Of course most people know that traditional ACLS courses involve two main components: a theoretical component in which the theories behind the techniques are covered and explained, as well as a live skills testing component in which students demonstrate their knowledge of techniques on medical mannequins. Traditional courses generally take between 15 and 30 total hours of classroom time to go over both components. While there are excellent instructors who make sure all students in their classes demonstrate good knowledge of the material, both in technique and theory, there are also a lot of traditional classes where instructors gloss over the material and not a lot of knowledge about the material is imparted to the students.

For students who are comfortable with their knowledge of the material (or students who are willing to study and come back up to speed), online courses can be an excellent recertification option. There's no need to schedule classroom time around busy schedules, and no need to put up with slow or lazy people in a classroom who waste time asking simple questions they should already know. Instead, students can sign up for a program, study the material if they need to, and then take the test online in a convenient, Internet-based format. Tests are quickly graded and cards can even be sent via email for rapid recertification. The only potential roadblock with this approach is if a student's place of employment requires American Heart Association accreditation. If this is the case, know that even with recertification (instead of certification) students will be required to successfully pass a live skills test.