BLS INSTRUCTOR COURSE
Course Description
The Irish Heart Foundation/American Heart Association BLS Instructor Course is designed to teach the methods to effectively instruct others in all Basic Life Support (BLS) resuscitation courses to healthcare provider level.

The BLS Instructor Course is of two days duration and essence of this course is to become proficient in running CPR/BLS/AED Courses.

During the course you will practice facilitating a class with lots of role play. The course is building on class facilitation. 

Practical skills examined include:

• Adult, Infant and Child one person CPR
• Adult two person CPR · Adult, Infant and Child Foreign Body Airway Obstruction
• Recovery Position
• AED Training
• Bag Valve Mask Devices
• Pocket Masks
• Barrier devices
• Manikin Hygiene

To successfully complete the course practical skills must be successfully demonstrated and instructor competencies must be achieved.

Please Note: The Irish Heart Foundation only recognises training done through affiliated training sites. Therefore all certified BLS instructors must be affilated to a training site in order to have any courses they teach recognised. IHF course MCQs and course completion cards are only issued through the training site co-ordinators.

Course Prerequisites
In order to participate in the BLS Instructors Course you must have a current Healthcare Provider Certification and have completed the core instructor interactive course which can be taken at home on your PC and takes 6-8 hours to complete. Participants should be proficient in the above listed practical skills prior to the course.

Post Course Certification Requirements
Once the BLS Instructor Course is successfully completed new BLS Instructors must successfully demonstrate their teaching skills while instructing any of the BLS Provider Courses. Monitoring must be done within 90 days of completing the instructor course and monitoring must be completed by a current BLS Faculty member or Instructor Trainer.

Re-certification Guidelines
A BLS Instructor is required to re-certify every two years in order to stay current as an instructor. Certification expires at the end of the month two years from the date of the initial training course or last re-certification course.

Re-certification must be done before current certification lapses otherwise the Instructor will be required to complete the full BLS Instructor Course again. Instructors must teach a minimum of four BLS courses within the two-year period of their certification and in order for a BLS Instructor to re-certify the following must be completed:

• Provider Skills must be successfully demonstrated.
• Dates and venues of at least four provider courses taught in the past two years must be given.
• Instructor must be monitored within 90 days of completion of skills assessment.

Our instructors can be monitored teaching a course and then their skills assesed following that course.

All original monitor forms must be submitted tot he Irish Heart Foundation and a photocopy retained by the instructor or training site.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE IRISH HEART FOUNDATION DOES NOT SEND REMINDER NOTICES WHEN CERTIFICATION IS DUE TO LAPSE SO IT IS THE INSTRUCTOR’S RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THEY RE-CERTIFY BEFORE THEIR CERTIFICATION LAPSES.

Reciprocity with AHA or other ITO:
An instructor from the American Heart Association or another AHA affiliated International Training Organisation may gain reciprocity to teach in the Republic of Ireland however they must be successfully monitored while instructing on an IHF BLS Course for their certification to be recognised. IF monitoring is successful then an IHF BLS instructor card will be issued. Instructors wishing to undergo this process should contact the Emergency Cardiovascular Care Department at the Irish Heart Foundaiton at 01 668 5001 prior to seeking to be monitored.