How to Get AHA BLS Certified: Courses, Exam, eCard

To get an American Heart Association BLS card, you take the BLS Provider Course through an authorized AHA Training Center. You can do it all in a classroom, or as blended learning: the HeartCode BLS online course followed by an in-person skills session (AHA). You have to pass hands-on skills tests, plus an exam in the classroom version. The Training Center then issues a BLS Provider eCard, valid for two years (AHA BLS FAQ; AHA).

What the BLS course covers and who it’s for

The course trains you to recognize several life-threatening emergencies, give high-quality chest compressions, deliver breaths and ventilations, and use an AED early (AHA). It covers adults, children (1 year to puberty) and infants (under 1 year, not including newborns), along with team CPR and relief of choking (AHA BLS FAQ).

It’s designed for healthcare professionals and trained first responders who care for patients in many settings, and for people enrolled in healthcare training programs. There are two tracks, in-hospital and out-of-hospital, with the same content but different scenarios (same source). The AHA says fire, police and emergency medical personnel usually need BLS, and that you should check with your employer or licensing authority (AHA course FAQs). If you’re working toward EMT certification, see our guide to the NREMT EMT exam.

BLS or Heartsaver?

Heartsaver courses are for people with little or no medical training who need a course completion card to meet a job requirement, such as OSHA’s, or another regulatory requirement (AHA Heartsaver). The AHA points non-healthcare workers who need CPR and AED training for work to Heartsaver CPR AED. BLS doesn’t include first aid, which the AHA teaches in its Heartsaver first aid courses (AHA course FAQs).

Course formats and how long they take

Format	How it works	Approximate time
Classroom	All in person with an AHA Instructor, who runs the lessons, practice and testing	Full course about 4.5 hours with breaks; renewal course about 4 hours
Blended (HeartCode BLS)	Online course, then a hands-on skills session with an AHA Instructor	Online part about 1 to 2 hours, plus the skills session
Self-guided	Online course, then skills at an approved CPR Verification Station	Varies with experience

Sources: AHA, AHA BLS FAQ.

HeartCode is adaptive, so how long the online part takes depends on what you already know. You’ll need the certificate of completion from the online part to get into the skills session. Both blended and classroom courses have the same learning objectives (AHA HeartCode FAQ).

The AHA gives two different lengths for the skills session. Its course options page says 60 minutes to 2 hours, depending on experience (AHA). Its 2025 HeartCode FAQ says the instructor-led HeartCode BLS session runs about 2 hours and 45 minutes with breaks (AHA HeartCode FAQ). The FAQ is written for the 2025 courses and describes the session in more detail, so we’d plan on the longer figure. Your Training Center can tell you how long its session runs.

What’s tested

To earn the card in the classroom course, you must (AHA BLS FAQ):

• Take part in hands-on demonstrations of high-quality CPR
• Pass the Adult CPR and AED Skills Test
• Pass the Infant CPR Skills Test
• Score at least 84% on the exam

The AHA’s 2026 faculty guide for BLS instructors says the exam has 25 questions, uses scenarios and is open resource. The AHA sets no time limit, though it estimates 1 to 2 minutes per question (AHA faculty guide). Open resource means you can use the provider manual, your notes and other references, but you can’t talk with other students or the instructor during the exam (AHA BLS FAQ).

Blended students don’t take that exam. The AHA says HeartCode relies on continuous assessment in the adaptive online course instead (AHA faculty guide), and skills testing happens at the hands-on session (AHA HeartCode FAQ).

If you fall short, you get remediation. You’re allowed no more than two attempts at the online exam. After skills remediation you take a second skills test, and if remediation doesn’t work, you have to retake the course (AHA faculty guide).

Online-only courses won’t get you the card

For AHA courses that include hands-on skills like CPR, you have to complete a hands-on skills session to get an AHA course completion card (AHA course FAQs). HeartCode BLS on its own isn’t enough. After the online part, you still need a hands-on session, sold separately, with an AHA Training Center (ShopCPR). The AHA also notes that other organizations may offer similar cards and that they differ from valid AHA cards (AHA).

Your eCard and renewal

Training Centers must issue your card within 20 business days of finishing the course (AHA). It shows a “Renew By” date and is valid for two years, through the end of the month it was issued (AHA card guide).

You’ll usually get an email from eCards@heart.org with a link to claim the card. You can also search the eCards site with your name and email or your eCard code. To claim it, you set a security question and fill out a course survey. The AHA says claiming your eCard is the only way to show your employer proof of completion (AHA eCards help).

There’s a shorter BLS Renewal Course (AHA BLS FAQ). For your renewal options, class times and cost, the AHA sends you to a Training Center (AHA; AHA).

Finding a Training Center and checking a card

Only authorized Training Centers can issue AHA course cards (AHA). To find one, use the AHA’s Atlas tool to search by location for classes, skills stations and Training Centers (AHA Atlas), or use its Training Center search. Training Centers are independent businesses under agreement with the AHA. If a center lists its classes in the AHA’s system, you can register online. Otherwise you may need to call or visit its website (AHA course FAQs).

To verify an eCard, an employer goes to the AHA eCards site, opens the Employer tab and enters up to 20 eCard codes to see their status. The student has to have claimed the eCard first (AHA eCards help). Employers can also scan the QR code on the eCard. For a printed card, contact the Training Center that issued it (AHA).

What the 2025 Guidelines changed

The 2025 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC were published in the journal Circulation on October 22, 2025 (AHA), and the updated BLS Provider Course came out the same day (AHA bulletin). Instructors could keep using 2020 materials with interim updates through February 28, 2026. Since March 1, 2026, all BLS courses must use the new materials (AHA bulletin). The last 2020-version BLS eCards were issued February 28, 2026 and aren’t valid after February 28, 2028 (AHA card guide).

In the course itself (AHA BLS FAQ):

• New videos with live-action scenarios set in and out of the hospital, including scenarios showing cardiac arrest in women
• Bystander Hands-Only CPR added to the out-of-hospital skills test scenario
• The infant skills test now checks two compression techniques: the heel of one hand and the two thumb-encircling hands method
• An updated Chain of Survival, new algorithms and updated protocols for severe choking in the provider manual

These changes reflect new science in the Guidelines (AHA BLS FAQ). The two-finger technique for infant CPR is no longer recommended. For severe choking in adults and children, rescuers now give repeated cycles of 5 back blows followed by 5 abdominal thrusts, and for infants, 5 back blows alternating with 5 chest thrusts. A single Chain of Survival now covers adults and children both in and out of the hospital. The healthcare provider BLS algorithm also now shows where naloxone fits for suspected opioid overdose (AHA Guidelines Highlights).

Cost

Prices come from Training Centers, which set their own fees and schedules, including what they charge for hands-on skills sessions (AHA course FAQs). The AHA sells the online part itself. HeartCode BLS Online was listed at $38.00 on ShopCPR on October 18, 2026, with the skills session sold separately (ShopCPR). Ask your Training Center whether you also need to buy course materials (AHA).