Becoming an AHA instructor empowers individuals to equip others with life-saving skills, fostering a safer community, and potentially saving lives in emergencies while simultaneously advancing personal and professional development through teaching and leadership opportunities. To become an AHA certified instructor, candidates need to align with an AHA Training Center (TC) to purchase AHA materials, teach courses, and issue American Heart Association certificates. 

Here are the steps to becoming an instructor:

• Complete Provider Courses: Instructor candidates must first complete the provider courses they wish to teach, such as Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), or Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), depending on their area of interest.

• Meet Eligibility Requirements: Candidates need to meet the eligibility requirements set by the AHA and the specific Training Center with which they intend to align. These requirements include holding a current provider certification in the course they want to teach and demonstrating proficiency in the skills covered in the course.

• Attend Instructor Course: Instructor candidates are required to attend an AHA Instructor Course conducted by a Training Center Faculty member. During this course, candidates learn about teaching methodologies, AHA guidelines, and how to effectively deliver AHA courses.

• Demonstrate Skills: Candidates must demonstrate their skills in teaching CPR and other life-saving techniques to their instructor course classmates and the Training Center Faculty.

• Complete Monitoring: After completing the Instructor Course, candidates will need to be monitored while teaching their first course as an instructor. This monitoring ensures that they can effectively teach the course content and adhere to AHA guidelines.

• Align with a Training Center: Once they have completed all requirements, instructor candidates can officially align with a specific AHA Training Center. This affiliation allows them to teach AHA courses under the auspices of that Training Center.

• Maintain Certification: Instructors must maintain their certification by regularly renewing their credentials, staying up-to-date with AHA guidelines, and fulfilling any continuing education requirements set by the Training Center.

The AHA requires that instructors be at least 18 years of age to teach Heartsaver and BLS courses. ACLS, PALS, and PEARS Instructors must be at least 18 years of age and licensed or certified in a healthcare occupation where the skills are within the provider’s scope of practice.

Choosing the Right AHA Training Center and Alignment Considerations

The AHA established a fleet of Training Centers to help strengthen the Chain of Survival by monitoring the proper administration and quality of the Emergency Cardiovascular Care Courses.  Choosing the right Training Center for alignment is essential to ensure you have the appropriate support, teaching materials, equipment, administrative support, and opportunities for professional development as an instructor. 

As an AHA Training Center, ACLS Academy works closely with the AHA to provide the utmost care and education when teaching others American Heart Association courses.  We adhere to rigorous guidelines and uphold the highest levels of integrity in our business practices while facilitating quality education.

As an AHA Training Center, ACLS Academy is responsible for providing our Training Sites and instructors with timely communication of any new or updated information about the Training Centers, communication of regional or national procedures, and course content. It is also our duty to make sure Instructors are current on AHA protocols and certified to teach the AHA programs.

The benefits of alignment with ACLS Academy are: 

• No alignment fees 

• No charge for biennial monitoring (every two years) 

• Free use of our software system to submit rosters and purchase AHA cards making the process efficient with the quick turnaround of certification card issuance

• Acceptance of instructors in all AHA disciplines (e.g. Heartsaver, BLS, ACLS, PALS) 

• Assignment of Training Sites when locations have 5 or more instructors

• Assignment of a Training Site Coordinator for Training Sites

• Free training of a Training Center Faculty for Training Sites

• Alignment with an established Training Center with an impeccable reputation for quality training and customer service

• Three training locations in the greater Boston area for the convenience of our instructor and student network

• Established Training Center with over 24 instructors and committed to providing Emergency Cardiovascular Care training to healthcare professionals and individuals in the community 

Instructor Alignment Process

After an instructor candidate has completed an Instructor Course, they will automatically be aligned with the Training Center where the instruction occurred, although some exceptions may apply. While most AHA Instructors align with a single Training Center, the AHA does allow for secondary Training Center alignment. An example scenario of when this occurs is where an instructor is aligned with a hospital but the hospital doesn’t allow for instruction in the community. The instructor in that case may align with an outside Training Center. In the case of a secondary Training Center alignment, the primary Training Center is not alerted as to the secondary alignment, and no transfer forms are required.

Transferring an Instructor AHA Training Center Alignment

An instructor can transfer their Training Center alignment to a new Training Center organization. The transfer process works as follows: 

• Completion of an AHA transfer form - The accepting Training Center will sign off on the form and communicate the form to the old Training Center requesting a copy of the instructor records. Communication of the form must be solely between the two Training Centers; the instructor cannot be the facilitator of the form communication.

• The completed form will also be submitted to the AHA by the accepting Training Center.

• The accepting Training Center will monitor the instructor teaching a class to ensure AHA quality standards are being upheld. This can be completed in person or virtually through the recording of the class. This is a requirement in all cases even if a current AHA instructor certification card is still valid.

• An Affiliation agreement will typically be signed by the Training Center and Instructor. 

• The AHA will issue a new instructor certification card with the new Training Center affiliation indicated.

ACLS Academy is an authorized American Heart Associate (AHA) Aligned Training Center. We have three convenient locations in Massachusetts – Quincy, Bridgewater, and Newton Center with most of our classes including an online training component. We provide high-quality courses taught by instructors practicing in the medical profession for ACLS, TNCC, BLS, ENPC, NRP, PALS, Bloodborne Pathogen, HeartSaver CPR/AED, First Aid, and Instructor Courses. Please browse our catalog of courses. If you’re interested in becoming an instructor and/or affiliating with ACLS Academy as an instructor, please reach out to us.