This Instructor Course is for those individuals who wish to teach the American Heart Association Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS). Upon successful completion of the course and the succeeding student teaching requirements as outlined below, the Instructor Candidate will obtain an American Heart Association PALS instructor card. Instructor Candidates will be able to teach PALS courses using the video and lesson maps that are part of the appropriate PALS course instructor materials.

Requirements:  The instructor candidate must complete all 3 steps below.  If at any time they are unsuccessful in a step they will be removed from the instructor candidate process.          

Step 1 – Training Center Screening/Qualification

In order to become an instructor with the American Heart Association, a candidate’s cognitive and psychomotor skills must be validated by the Training Center offering instructor courses. The candidate must come to the session with a valid, up-to-date provider manual for the discipline for which they are applying to teach, successfully pass the associated written examination with a minimum score of 90%, and demonstrate excellent clinical treatment skills.

Step 2 – Face-to-Face Instructor Course

Held by an authorized AHA training center, faculty of the MedStar Health Training Center will provide instruction to those candidates who successfully move on from step 2 of the instructor certification process. Each section of the course is discussed and role-played to ensure core learning objectives are covered. Training Center specific procedures and guidelines are discussed. These courses are offered on a limited basis. Dates and times will be listed below. If no courses are currently listed, the Training Center has not scheduled any. Please check back at a late date for scheduled courses.

Step 3 – Training Center Affiliation & Monitoring/Mentoring

After the completion of an ECC Instructor Course, instructor candidates must be accepted into an affiliation with a Training Center, meet with the Training Center Coordinator to review policies & procedures, and be monitored by Training Center Faculty during all courses taught by the candidate. Monitoring will take place until the candidate successfully passes minimum criteria for instructor status as outlined by the AHA.