PALS Certification And Procedure Information

By Ericka Marsh


PALS stands for the procedures known as Pediatric Advanced Life Support, which is useful to all persons who work with children of all ages in an emergency situation. Emergency medical techs, any doctor or nurse who works in hospitals or any other health care worker should be knowledgeable about dealing with kids in these situations. Getting a PALS certification can help to keep these workers in the loop on the successful means and procedures available to them in emergency instances.

Classroom courses are the most common form of these classes being offered, but there are other ways of getting to take the course. If time is an issue, online versions can be found that take much less time and still offer information required. Support and assessment importance as well as algorithms that are in place for life saving are a few of the reasons the American Heart Association created the training.

You could expect a few different things from these courses such as coverage of one and two person situations with CPR and AED for children, cardiac therapy situations and gaining vascular access as well as advanced life support for kids that have changed over the years. In a classroom, numerous emergency situation simulations are offered so that a hands on experience is gained while learning concepts and their applications. When taking these classes online, a manual and written test are offered instead of the hands on experience.

Each option outlined above offers the taker the option of certifying for the first time, or getting recertified and getting continuing education credits. These credits are a requirement in most all states for health care workers to keep their credentials up to date. The AHA or American Heart Association pairs with many training centers and offers their information for these courses, so any provider that is used should be certified to offer this credential.

Many are not able to show this credential, so the students therefore aren't able to get credit for completing the course. So it is in the best interest of a student to get in contact with CECBEMS or AHA to make sure they can get credit. Even if a course is completed, without the correct credentialing, no credits will be given.

If you are wanting to update your credentials using the class for con ed, you should know what you will need to pass. A student could pass if they take part in and actually complete a one and two person kid and infant AED/CPR and act as a team lead during a cardiac or respiratory shock simulation after taking a written exam. If each portion is passed, a score is assessed and the certificate or card is given in recognition.

Right now there are courses that can be taken to update or to get your certificate for the first time. The first time course is made to give in depth information to a student, where the course to update is basic key points that have already been covered in the past. The con ed credit for these for all states is at fourteen and a half credits for the course through CECBEMS guidelines. This accrediting institute for con ed crediting approves this when a course with AHA standards has been completed.

For details about being certified as well as all procedures covered in that course, you should call the AHA nearest you. This gives you the chance to ask a question about requirements, educational credits or materials that are offered. Remember that your chosen provider for testing may not be allowed to offer such with the local branch of AHA, so you should contact CECBEMS directly for more information.




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