Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification
BLS, or basic life support, is a vital technique used by healthcare professionals worldwide to increase the chance of survival during a sudden cardiac arrest emergency.
It’s one of the first steps in a response system called The Chain of Survival, created to provide a patient with their best of survival so they can return to living a healthy and productive life.
According to the CDC, approximately 357,000 Americans experience a sudden cardiac arrest each year outside of a hospital. Up to 90% of those individuals die before reaching emergency room care. In addition, nearly 209,000 individuals are treated for cardiac arrest in hospitals every year.
RC Health Services BLS certification courses teach the latest lifesaving techniques to respond to sudden cardiac emergencies and improve the chances of survival. As a BLS student, you can become an instrumental part of saving the lives of others.
What happens during cardiac arrest?
When the heart works correctly, it pumps blood through a person’s lungs. In the lungs, blood is oxygenated and releases carbon dioxide. Then the blood goes back to the heart, which pumps it and sends it to the heart and brain and circulates throughout the body.
But, when the heart’s pumping action stops, the blood flow stops as well, and oxygen stops circulating in the patient’s body. The person becomes unconscious, and damage to the heart and brain begins.
The purpose of BLS is to slow or prevent damage from cardiac arrest until the person reaches the hospital, where they can receive treatment. Basic life support is instrumental in improving a critical patient’s chance of survival until they get to a hospital to receive advanced care.
What do BLS certification classes teach?
- Concepts of the Chain of Survival.
- Instructs students on delivering lifesaving chest compressions to keep oxygen circulation going to the heart, brain, and other vital organs.
- Shows how to recognize when an automated external defibrillator (AED) should be used and the correct techniques to apply when using one.
- Provides instruction on rescue breathing.
- Classes on how to recognize the signs of choking and how to treat it once it does.
Who is Our BLS Training Course For?
RC Health Services American Heart Association Training Center provides BLS training courses for:
- Aspiring EMTs, EMS personnel, and other first responders
- Healthcare professionals providing direct patient care, including dental assistants and CNAs
- Non-clinical healthcare workers
- Healthcare workers needing a refresher course, including doctors and nurses
- Public safety workers, including firefighters, police officers, and more
- Employees in the general workforce who want enhanced workplace safety
- Just about anyone who wants to be prepared in the event of a life-threatening emergency.
BLS Courses for EMTs and Healthcare Workers
RC Health Services is an authorized training center for the American Heart Association. We provide basic life support courses for healthcare providers, including EMTs, EMS workers, and non-clinical healthcare workers. RC Health is also a continuing education training center.
Our instructors follow the guidelines and requirements of the American Heart Association’s curriculum and recommendations.
We deliver the most comprehensive BLS training courses throughout Texas, including Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio. Our service area also includes all of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia.
We strive to provide premier BLS courses that offer our students training they can count on during an emergency.
BLS for Improved Workplace Safety
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2020, 4,764 workplace injuries resulted in death in the U.S. The census does not count the number of deaths that occur at workplaces from natural causes or illnesses.
Basic life support and safety training programs can vastly improve outcomes for workplace injuries and sudden cardiac arrest occurring in susceptible individuals.
RC Health’s BLS course covers the basic concepts of CPR and AED application and techniques. Our instructors are skilled in teaching non-medical personnel and healthcare providers lifesaving skills to save the lives of others.
BLS for Re-certification and Course Refreshers for Healthcare Providers
Most healthcare providers would agree that a great day at work is when they get to be part of saving a life.
Every healthcare professional, from an x-ray technician to a paramedic or EMT to a nurse and a doctor, is vital in improving the health and lives of others.
Life or death situations occur every day in the healthcare setting. As rewarding as a healthcare career is, it can also be challenging to stay up-to-date about the lifesaving techniques that can mean the difference between a patient surviving or succumbing to death.
RC Health understands the obstacles and challenges that every healthcare professional faces. Whether you’re a seasoned healthcare worker in need of a refresher course, or a provider requiring recertification or continuing education, we’re an American Heart Association Training Center delivering cutting-edge BLS instruction to healthcare workers throughout the South.
RC Health Services is a Department of State Health Services Continuing Education Units (CEU) provider.
We’ll help you stay on the right track with the latest lifesaving skills to keep you current and help drive optimal patient outcomes.
Our Instructors Are Healthcare Professionals Too
Our BLS course instructors are masters in basic lifesaving techniques. They should be. They’re active paramedics, registered nurses, and EMTs themselves, so they’re passionate about saving lives and teaching others to do the same.
As healthcare professionals, our teachers understand the healthcare field and the unique challenges in the industry.
They’re experts at presenting solutions that come from critical thinking combined with dynamic lifesaving skills and techniques that increase survival for patients.
What do Our BLS Classes Teach?
- The role of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in saving lives
- The lifesaving steps included in the Chain of Survival
- Application of the BLS concepts
- How to identify when a person needs CPR
- Instruction on performing CPR on infants, children, and adults
- How to use an AED and the importance of using it early and timely to maximize outcomes
- Ventilation techniques using a barrier device to protect rescuers
- How to work with a team during CPR rescues
- Recognizing airway obstruction and choking and the application of techniques to dislodge foreign objects and open the airway
RC Health Services offers a comprehensive online basic life support training class, in addition to ACLS certification courses, advanced emergency care, EMT courses, continuing education courses for health providers, and more.
Contact our training headquarters at 281-416-5939 to begin your certification today.