BLS Recertification

Basic life support (BLS) certification is required for every healthcare professional that routinely has, or may have patient contact. The certification you receive after taking a BLS class the first time is valid for two years: at the end of that time you will need to take a BLS recertification class.

Basic life support is precisely what it is advertised as: basic. The class covers cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), how to recognize and respond to selected medical emergencies, how to provide first aid to someone who is choking and often (but not always) how and when to use automated external defibrillator (AED). For most health care professionals, taking and passing a BLS class is easy.

However, although the techniques and protocols that are learned in BLS are relatively easy to learn, for most nurses, physicians and other health care personnel recertification is essential and it is a valuable experience. The reasons for this are simple. 

• The techniques and protocols of BLS are rarely used in clinical practice by majority of nurses or physicians: Although BLS is used for emergencies that are common, these emergencies are typically a very small part of the working day of most health care professionals.

• The BLS information is only reviewed every two years: It is simply not possible to retain this information with this amount of time between learning sessions.

• The BLS techniques and protocols are used for emergencies: Healthcare professionals have a responsibility to be prepared to respond quickly and accurately to medical emergencies. If BLS is reviewed and practiced very two years it is obviously very difficult to apply BLS measures during moments of high stress. 

• BLS is not static: The basics of what BLS is – CPR, recognizing/responding to medical emergencies, etc. – have not changed nor are they likely to change. But the ways in which individual BLS techniques are performed have certainly evolved. For many years ABC – airway, breathing, and circulation – was the phrase that summarized the official BLS response to a cardiac arrest. But recent changes in CPR guidelines have replaced ABC with a more effective technique: CAB, compressions, airway, breathing. Also, other aspects of BLS such as the optimal rate of delivering compressions, the depth of compressions, synchronizing rescue breaths to CPR; all of these have undergone revision from time to time. 

BLS recertification classes are widely available: they can be taken on-line or in a traditional classroom venue. The recertification classes are a bit shorter then basic BLS certification – four hours for recertification, five hours for the first-time BLS class – but the classes have the same structure, they cover the same material, and the student must take and pass a written exam and demonstrate hands-on proficiency at the skills. 

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