- What the Heartsaver CPR AED Card Actually Is
- The Assessment Pathway: Skills First, Written Exam Optional
- The 12 Course Topics You Need to Master
- Classroom, Blended, Self-Guided and Virtual Routes
- Where the Money Goes: Cost Components
- Heartsaver CPR AED vs. First Aid CPR AED vs. BLS
- A Topic-Ordered Preparation Plan
- Card Validity and Renewal
- Pass Rates, Salary and Value: What Is Not Published
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The AHA issues a course-completion card for Heartsaver CPR AED; it documents satisfactory performance, not a license to practice.
- The required assessment is a hands-on Adult CPR and AED Skills Test; child and infant skills tests apply only when those components are taught.
- A written exam is optional; if given, the AHA requires at least 84% and permits reference materials.
- Online study alone is never enough: the 2025 online product (25-1401, $19.50) excludes the separately purchased hands-on session.
What the Heartsaver CPR AED Card Actually Is
Heartsaver CPR AED is an American Heart Association (AHA) course built for people with little or no medical training who need to respond to a cardiac emergency: workplace responders, teachers, coaches, childcare workers, fitness staff, volunteers and ordinary community members. When you finish the course, the AHA issues a course-completion card. The AHA is careful about the wording here: the card documents satisfactory performance at the end of the course, and the AHA explicitly distinguishes that from certifying someone in CPR. Many employers and websites still call it "certification," and that shorthand is fine in everyday use, but you should know the official distinction when you read policy documents. For a plain-language orientation, see What Is Heartsaver CPR AED? and What Does Heartsaver CPR AED Stand For?
The selected course is specifically Heartsaver CPR AED. It is not the same program as Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED, pediatric first aid, Basic Life Support (BLS) for healthcare providers, or Instructor Essentials. Search results routinely blur these together, and some third-party prep pages borrow details from the wrong course. Everything below is tied to the CPR AED path only.
The Assessment Pathway: Skills First, Written Exam Optional
This is the single most misunderstood part of the course. Many practice-test sites present Heartsaver as a universal timed, closed-book written exam. The AHA's current policy does not support that picture.
What is required
To receive the card, you complete the applicable course curriculum and satisfactorily perform the Adult CPR and AED Skills Test. If your instructor teaches the optional child and infant components, you also complete the Child CPR and Infant CPR Skills Tests. You demonstrate these on a manikin with an instructor or approved pathway observing you. A separate fixed duration for the skills test is not publicly verified, so do not trust any site that quotes an exact skills-test timer.
What is optional
A written exam is optional for this course. An employer or regulator may request it, and your Training Center may then administer it. When a written exam is given, the current AHA policy says:
- The minimum passing score is 84%.
- The exam is open-resource: the workbook or eBook, your notes and the guidelines may be used.
- Discussion with other students or with the instructor is prohibited during the exam.
- Questions are scenario-based, and the AHA imposes no mandated completion time.
The faculty guide describes classroom administration of the exam even for blended learners. The exact question count for the CPR AED form and the scored/unscored breakdown are not publicly verified. The "10-25 questions" figure in the 2026 faculty guide describes five Heartsaver exam forms collectively, so it is not a count for this course. Likewise, a competitor claim of a universal 20-question, closed-book, proctored exam conflicts with the issuer's optional, open-resource policy. For more on this threshold, see Heartsaver CPR AED Passing Score, and for realistic expectations about difficulty, see How Hard Is the Heartsaver CPR AED Exam?
Key Takeaway
Prepare for a skills demonstration first. If your employer asks for the optional written exam, ask your Training Center in advance whether it will be given and what resources you may use.
The 12 Course Topics You Need to Master
The AHA's course topic table for the CPR AED path lists twelve topics, including the Introduction and Conclusion. These are unweighted preparation topics: the AHA publishes no percentage weights and no "largest domain," and the list does not define an exhaustive written-exam blueprint. Topics 3, 4, 6 and 7 are the optional child/infant components; the rest are required on this path. Topics marked "NA" for CPR AED, including the First Aid curriculum, are excluded. A deeper walk-through lives in Heartsaver CPR AED Exam Domains: Complete Guide to All 12 Content Areas.
Domain 1: Introduction
Sets the frame for the course: why bystander action matters and how the learning path works. Expect orientation material rather than hard skills.
Domain 2: Adult CPR AED: Compressions, Breaths, and AED
The core of the course and the one skill set that is always tested. Practice hand placement, compression depth and rate, rescue breaths, and AED pad placement and operation.
- Recognizing an unresponsive adult who is not breathing normally and activating emergency response
- Giving high-quality compressions with minimal interruptions
- Following AED voice prompts, including clearing the patient before a shock
Domain 3: Child CPR AED: Compressions, Breaths, and AED
Optional component. Covers how technique and AED use adjust for a child, including pad selection guidance on the device in use.
Domain 4: Infant CPR AED: Compressions, Breaths, and AED
Optional component. Infant compression technique differs from adult and child technique, and the current column includes optional infant AED material.
Domain 5: Adult Choking Relief
Recognizing severe airway obstruction in an adult and delivering relief, then moving to CPR if the person becomes unresponsive.
Domain 6: Child Choking Relief
Optional component covering how choking relief is adapted for a child.
Domain 7: Infant Choking Relief
Optional component covering the distinct technique used for infants.
Domain 8: Opioid-Associated Emergency
A current-course topic that many older study guides omit. Learn to recognize an opioid-associated emergency and how it fits with the response sequence you have already practiced.
Domain 9: Water Competency and Drowning
Another current-course topic. Understand water competency and how a drowning emergency changes the priorities of the response.
Domain 10: Heart Attack
Recognize warning signs and know the right early actions, and understand how a heart attack differs from sudden cardiac arrest.
Domain 11: Stroke
Recognize stroke signs and the urgency of calling for help. This is awareness content, not a treatment skill.
Domain 12: Conclusion
Wraps up the course and the assessment steps that lead to your card.
Notice what is not here: bleeding control, burns, splinting and the rest of the first aid syllabus belong to Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED. If a prep resource spends half its time on those, it is covering a different course. Our Heartsaver CPR AED Cheat Sheet condenses the must-know items for the CPR AED path only.
Classroom, Blended, Self-Guided and Virtual Routes
Delivery is flexible, but the hands-on component is not optional. Online study alone is insufficient for a completion card.
| Route | How it works | What to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom | Instructor-led course with practice and skills testing in one session through an AHA Training Center or Instructor. | That the course is the exact Heartsaver CPR AED, not a combined First Aid course. |
| Blended | Complete the online portion first, then attend a hands-on skills session with an instructor. | That your skills session is booked and compatible with the online product you bought. |
| Self-guided (Heartsaver Direct) | Online learning, then warm-up, practice and skills testing at a manikin training station. | That the booked configuration issues the exact Heartsaver CPR AED card. |
| Virtual | The AHA's Heartsaver Virtual permits instructor-observed hands-on completion using a training kit and a feedback app. | That your employer accepts this route; physical attendance in a shared classroom is not universal. |
Where the Money Goes: Cost Components
There is no single national price for Heartsaver CPR AED, because independent Training Centers set their own all-inclusive and renewal fees. No national member/non-member rates were verified. What is verifiable is the issuer's online product: the 2025 Heartsaver CPR AED Online (product 25-1401) is listed on ShopCPR at USD $19.50. It was released October 22, 2025 and replaces product 20-1401. That price covers the online portion including the student eBook; the required hands-on skills session is purchased separately. The listing's continuing-education termination date is not a card expiry.
The student eBook included is the combined Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED eBook, but its inclusion does not expand the scope of the CPR AED course you are taking. In practice your total is the online product (if you use the blended route) plus the Training Center's skills-session fee, or one all-inclusive classroom fee. Ask whether the quote covers optional child/infant components, any required written exam, and the card itself. For a full breakdown, see Heartsaver CPR AED Certification Cost.
How long does it take?
The AHA's course FAQ estimates roughly 1.5 hours of instructor-led instruction, excluding optional topics and breaks, reflecting required-topic video time with some discussion. Other issuer pages show broader estimates and sometimes mixed First Aid wording, and your actual configuration changes the time. Treat these as instructional hours, not exam timing.
Heartsaver CPR AED vs. First Aid CPR AED vs. BLS
| Feature | Heartsaver CPR AED | Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED | BLS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audience | Lay responders with little or no medical training | Lay responders who also need first aid skills | Healthcare providers and professional rescuers |
| Scope | CPR, AED, choking relief, opioid emergency, drowning, heart attack, stroke | Adds the First Aid curriculum | Clinical team-based resuscitation |
| Separate credential | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Heartsaver is not a stepping stone you must complete before BLS, and neither replaces the other. If your employer says "CPR card," ask which one. For a fuller side-by-side, read Heartsaver CPR AED Certification alongside What Is Heartsaver CPR AED Certification?
A Topic-Ordered Preparation Plan
Because the skills test is what you must pass, order your preparation around the manikin first and the knowledge topics second. If you want a longer walkthrough, our Heartsaver CPR AED Study Guide goes deeper.
Adult CPR AED and Adult Choking
- Review Domains 2 and 5 and rehearse the full adult sequence aloud
- Practice compression rhythm on a firm surface or pillow
Optional Child and Infant Topics
- Cover Domains 3, 4, 6 and 7 only if your course teaches them
- List which steps change from adult technique
Current-Course Emergencies
- Study Domains 8 to 11: opioid emergency, drowning, heart attack and stroke
- Do a scenario run-through, since written questions, if given, are scenario-based
Adult material goes first because it is the only skills test guaranteed to be assessed. The current-course emergencies come last because they are recognition-and-response topics that benefit from having the core sequence already internalized. Then take a few scenario-style questions on our practice test site to check your recall.
Card Validity and Renewal
An AHA course-completion card for Heartsaver is valid for two years through the end of the issue month. Renewal options, completion requirements and prices are arranged with your Training Center. No separate CEU maintenance quota was verified for this course-completion card. Because the course now follows the 2025 AHA Guidelines, and the AHA's U.S. transition requires 2025 teaching materials from March 1, 2026, check that any class you book uses current materials. Scheduling specifics are covered in Heartsaver CPR AED Exam Dates.
Pass Rates, Salary and Value: What Is Not Published
Be skeptical of confident numbers. The AHA does not publicly disclose a pass rate for this course, so "99% pass" or "100% pass guarantee" claims from local providers reflect their own remediation policies, not issuer-wide statistics. For context, read Heartsaver CPR AED Pass Rate.
The same caution applies to money. No Heartsaver-specific salary distribution or causal earnings premium was found. Heartsaver is a training requirement that many workplaces ask for, not a standalone occupation, so the practical value is meeting an employer or program requirement and being able to respond in an emergency. Compare your workplace's stated training requirements and your total cost rather than expecting a pay bump. For more, see Is the Heartsaver CPR AED Certification Worth It?, Heartsaver CPR AED Salary Guide and Heartsaver CPR AED Jobs.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The written exam is optional and used for employer or regulatory needs. If administered, the current AHA policy requires at least 84%, allows reference materials and prohibits discussion during the exam. The required assessment is the hands-on Adult CPR and AED Skills Test, plus child and infant tests when those components are taught.
No. Online study alone is not sufficient. Blended and self-guided routes require a hands-on skills session, and the AHA's virtual option still requires instructor-observed hands-on completion with a training kit. The online product (25-1401) is listed at $19.50 and does not include the skills session.
The exact question count for the CPR AED written form is not publicly verified. A figure of 10 to 25 questions in the faculty guide describes five Heartsaver exam forms collectively, so it should not be read as a count for this course.
Two years through the end of the month it was issued. Renewal options and fees are arranged with your Training Center, and no separate CEU quota was verified for this card.
Only if your employer, program or instructor includes them. Those components (Domains 3, 4, 6 and 7) are optional on this path, while the other listed topics are required. Confirm your requirement before you book.