How are the BLS, CPR and CPRFAAED courses different?

Three courses

There are three similar courses, basic life support (BLS), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and adult, child, & infant CPR, first aid & AED. These are very similar and teach overlapping content.

This page will help you understand the differences between these courses and help you decide which one is right for you.

Basic life support (BLS)

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation & automated external defibrillator (CPRAED)

Adult, child, & infant CPR, first aid & AED (CPRFAAED)

Content and syllabus

Broadly speaking, the courses include these main topics:

• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR): This is the revival of a person who has suffered a cardiac arrest. It involves chest compressions and possibly rescue breathing to maintain blood circulation and oxygenation. This is the first thing you need to know in an emergency.
• Automated external defibrillator (AED): This is a device that can deliver an electric shock to a person in cardiac arrest. It is used to restore the heart’s normal rhythm.
• First aid: This includes basic medical care for injuries and illnesses, such as cuts, burns, and choking. Sometimes cuts, reactions and other trauma can directly lead to a cardiac arrest.

And here is the which courses align with which topics:

You can view the full syllabus (“front matter”) for each course here:

• BLS syllabus
• CPRAED syllabus
• CPRFAAED syllabus

The BLS course (and by extension, the CPRAED course) includes more team dynamics courses in a medical setting, whereas the CPRFAAED course is more focused on individual rescuers who are not medical professionals.

eCards

Here is exactly how your eCard will look after passing any of these courses:

Basic life support (BLS)

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation & automated external defibrillator (CPRAED)

Adult, child, & infant CPR, first aid & AED (CPRFAAED)

The wording on these cards is similar:

• Name: Your name is printed on the card.
• Issue date: Is when you passed your online portion of the course (or your complete course if it was an in-person course).
• Renew by date: This is two years from the issue date.
• eCard code: This is a unique code that anyone can use to verify your certification online.

Additionally there are some subtle differences in color and headings on the cards.

• BLS: The card is blue and the heading is “Basic Life Support”.
  • Subheading shows “AED, first aid, CPR-C provider”
• CPRAED: The card is green and the heading is “Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation & Automated External Defibrillator”.
  • Subheading shows “Provider CPR-C”
• CPRFAAED: The card is orange and the heading is “Adult/child/infant CPR, first aid & AED”.
  • Subheading shows “OSHA compliant”

There’s a lot to unpack here and we do get several questions about why these words are on each card and which certain words aren’t on each card.

So first, here is the main explanation. All the words, color choices, and logos on each card are design choices that is driven by the feedback we get from state governments when getting our courses approved. See all our state, provincial and federal government approvals here.

For one example, OSHA is expecting our eCard to be the ANSI standardized “safety orange” color (ANSI Z535.1–1998), whereas hospitals expect their eCard to be “AHA blue”. But actually both of these courses are OSHA compliant! We don’t mention our OSHA compliance on our pages marketing the “BLS” course because those customers typically don’t care. But you dear reader are not a typical customer, you are someone who cares about your training and is reading a help guide on the historical color choices of certification cards for required training courses. I love you ❤️.

Conformance and approvals

Our courses have different accreditations, outlined here:

And those are American Medical Association (AMA), American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), American Dental Association (ADA) and Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE).

Again, our specific state/province, local and federal approvals are extensive and details on our accreditations page. Don’t forget to click through to your state/province.

Which one should I enroll in?

Hard and fast rules:

• If you work in a child care facility, you want the CPRFAAED course.
• If you work in any medical setting, you want the BLS course.
• For other people who want to do a fully online course, and don’t care about CE credits, you want the CPRAED course.

Or if you are enrolling a group of people, please use our group customer page.

Frequently asked questions

• Can I take the BLS course if I am not a medical professional? Yes, the BLS course is designed for non-medical professionals as well.
• Why do some of the cards say CPR-C and others don’t? Both our BLS and CPRAED courses are designed for the CPR-C competency (healthcare provider). The CPRFAAED course is designed for the CPR-A competency (lay rescuer).
• Is skills testing included? Our CPRFAAED course includes skills testing in the product price. The BLS and CPRAED courses include a skills testing form that you can use with trainers at your own hospital. We also offer skills testing on those courses for an additional fee.
• How long does each course take? BLS is 8 hours, CPRAED is 3 hours, and CPRFAAED varies by state approval, typically shorter for online formats.