PALS - Pediatric Advanced Life Support

The American Heart Association’s (AHA) Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Provider Course prepares healthcare providers to recognize and intervene when pediatric patients experience a respiratory emergency, shock, and/or cardiopulmonary arrest. It’s intended for any healthcare provider who responds to emergencies involving infants or children and for personnel in pediatric intensive care, and critical care units, emergency medicine, and emergency response. The goal is to improve the quality of care provided to seriously injured or ill children and improve outcomes for all pediatric patients.

PALS focuses on the pediatric patient population whose bodies respond differently than adults. It’s a more advanced course than CPR or Basic Life Support (BLS) and critical for doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, paramedics, and other healthcare providers who assess and manage emergencies involving infants, and children. PALS certification may be part of some healthcare providers’ job requirements.

The AHA offers two PALS training formats that both teach the same science-based skills, and provide an AHA PALS Course Completion Card. Both formats also require students to earn a minimum score of 84% on a multiple-choice exam that must be completed online.

Before taking a PALS course, students should have already mastered infant and child BLS skills. There’s a mandatory pre-course self-assessment available online that evaluates students’ knowledge in practical application, rhythm recognition and pharmacology. They must achieve a score of 70% or better on this assessment and bring their pre-course certificate to their instructor-led, hands-on class to be granted entry. Mandatory pre-course self-assessments determine whether students are prepared to begin PALS Provider training to minimize their risk of failing the course.

It's also recommended, but not mandatory, for students to complete pre-course work that includes interactive videos viewed online before entering the classroom. These videos review PALS Course content to prepare students for the course and include questions to engage students. Pre-course work helps better prepare students to participate as soon as they enter the classroom, which allows more time for hands-on skills training.

After passing either a Blended Learning HeartCode or Classroom PALS course, students earn a PALS Provider Course Completion Card that’s valid for two years. Most facilities require healthcare providers to renew this card before it expires, but students can take a renewal course even after their card expires. Renewal courses usually take a day to complete in an instructor-led, classroom course and run between $100 and $330.

AHA virtual skills testing and virtual renewal testing are currently available from some providers but only count if the provider is AHA authorized. The AHA mandates these providers to complete the HeartCode course when using the virtual option.

The AHA is accredited to provide continuing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Therefore, RNs can receive up to 4.75 contact hours, nurse practitioners up to one hour of Category 1 credit, physician assistants up to 3.75 hours of Category 1 credit, emergency medical services personnel up to 5.25 Advanced CE hours, respiratory therapists up to 4.5 contact hours and pharmacists up to 3.75 contact hours.

Nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, respiratory therapists, emergency medical technicians and other healthcare providers who may encounter pediatric emergencies during their work may benefit from other training and certifications directly related to children and infants, including:

• Pediatric Emergency Assessment, Recognition and Stabilization (PEARS) certification prepares healthcare providers to quickly assess, recognize, communicate and provide initial intervention for pediatric patients with respiratory emergencies, cardiopulmonary arrest and shock to improve outcomes.

• The Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) certification offered by the American Academy of Pediatrics introduces the concepts and basic skills of neonatal resuscitation and is designed for any healthcare professional involved in any aspect of neonatal resuscitation.

• The Sugar, Temperature, Airway, Blood pressure, Lab work, and Emotional support (STABLE) neonatal education courses focuses on post-resuscitation or pre-transport stabilization with a concentration.

• Acute/Critical Care Nursing-Pediatric (CCRN-Pediatric) certification validates the knowledge and skills of registered nurses providing care to acutely ill pediatric patients.

• Acute/Critical Care Knowledge Professional-Pediatric (CCRN-K-Pediatric) certification recognizes nurses who influence the care of patients in pediatric acute or critical care units but don’t necessarily provide direct care to patients.

Other related certifications include the AAPCC Certified Specialist in Poison Information (C-SPI).