AHA Instructor Courses

General Instructor Information and Course Schedule

American Heart Association Instructor training is divided by discipline, allowing candidates to focus on the specialized information they need to teach in their chosen discipline. Instructor training courses are available in:

  • Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers (BLS HCP)
  • Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support for Experienced Providers (ACLS EP)
  • Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
  • Pediatric Emergency Assessment, Recognition, and Stabilization (PEARS®)
  • Heartsaver®.

Before beginning the Instructor training process, candidates must have a current AHA provider course card for their chosen discipline, and must align with an American Heart Association Training Center that is accepting new Instructors in their chosen discipline.

American Heart Association Instructor training consists of three phases:

Phase One (Prerequisites/Online Session) is completed online through Blackboard.

Phase Two (Hands-on Session) will be completed in person at Johnston Community College (245 College Rd. Smithfield, NC) on the last day of the course.

Phase Three (Monitoring) is required to be completed within six (6) months of completing the hands-on session of the Instructor Essentials Course.

Upon successful completion of all steps, candidates receive an Instructor card, valid for two years. Johnston  Community College requires all instructors to follow the same certification period. 

Basic Life Support (BLS) Instructor

The BLS Instructor Course is designed to prepare instructor candidates to teach AHA Instructor-led and blended learning courses. The course educates instructor candidates on how to adequately use AHA Instructor teaching materials, ensure that students meet learning objectives, offer student coaching skills, provide an objective skills performance evaluation, and follow AHA Instructor and course policies. The course covers core content and discipline-specific content required to teach AHA courses.

Once you become an Instructor, you will have access to the most current emergency cardiovascular care science, course updates, training resources and tools through the online AHA Instructor Network. You will also be able to post class dates and times to reach more students through our public website.

Prerequisite: Instructor candidate MUST contact Mark Holloman, AHA Coordinator, to receive a detailed list of prerequisites and supplies needed for the course at kmholloman@johnstoncc.edu. Preregistration is required!

Coming in Spring 2023

Dates: February 2, 2023 - February 16, 2023 
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Location: JCC, Public Safety Building; Room J1630
Registration fee: $306.50 includes course and equipment fee

For more information, please see the Basic Life Support (BLS) Instructor-Information-Registration Packet 2023-01P (PDF)

Dates: April 6, 2023 - April 20, 2023
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Location: JCC, Public Safety Building; Room J1630
Registration fee: $306.50 includes course and equipment fee

For more information, please see the Basic Life Support (BLS) Instructor-Information-Registration Packet 2023-02P (PDF)

Advance Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) Instructor

This one-day course is designed for you, if you are a currently certified ACLS provider, to become a certified American Heart Association ACLS course instructor. The purpose of an ACLS Instructor Course is to develop proficiency in teaching, organizing, coordinating and conducting an ACLS Provider Course.

Prerequisite: Instructor candidate MUST contact Mark Holloman, AHA Coordinator, to receive a detailed list of prerequisites and supplies needed for the course at kmholloman@johnstoncc.edu.

Preregistration is required!


Textbook: Advance Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) Student and Instructor Manuals
Dates: Mid to Late 2016 (Waiting for the 2015 Instructor Manuals & DVD's to be available for purchase)
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location: JCC, Public Safety Building; Room J1630
Registration fee: TBA

Advance Cardiovascular Life Support – Experienced Providers (ACLS-EP) Instructor

This one day course is designed for you, if you are a currently certified ACLS-EP provider, to become a certified American Heart Association ACLS-EP course instructor. The purpose of an ACLS-EP Instructor Course is to develop proficiency in teaching, organizing, coordinating and conducting an ACLS-EP Provider Course.

Prerequisite: Be a current and active AHA ACLS Instructor in good standing with his or her Training Center. Attend and successfully complete an AHA ACLS EP Provider Course, demonstrating effective performance in all 4 learning stations and the ACLS provider testing stations.

Textbook: ACLS-EP Instructor Manual / Tool kit
Date: TBA
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location: JCC, Public Safety Building; Room J1630
Registration fee: TBA

Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Instructor

This one-day course is designed for you, if you are a currently certified PALS provider, to become a certified American Heart Association PALS course instructor. The purpose of a PALS Instructor Course is to develop proficiency in teaching, organizing, coordinating and conducting a PALS Provider Course.

Prerequisite: Instructor candidate MUST contact Mark Holloman, AHA Coordinator, to receive a detailed list of prerequisites and supplies needed for the course at kmholloman@johnstoncc.edu. Preregistration is required!

Textbook: Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Student and Instructor Manuals
Dates: Mid to Late 2016 (Waiting for the 2015 Instructor Manuals & DVD's to be available for purchase)
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location: JCC, Public Safety Building; Room J1630
Registration fee: TBA