- What the Words in the Name Actually Mean
- Course Completion Card vs. "Certification": A Meaningful Difference
- What the Course Covers: The 12 Topics
- How You Complete It: Skills Tests and the Optional Written Exam
- Formats, Cost Components and Duration
- Lookalike Names: Heartsaver CPR AED vs. First Aid CPR AED vs. BLS
- Who Takes It and Who Asks for It
- A Topic-Ordered Review Plan
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Heartsaver CPR AED is an American Heart Association course for laypeople, covering CPR and automated external defibrillator use.
- AHA issues a course-completion card documenting satisfactory performance, not a license or a credential that "certifies" you in CPR.
- Skills tests are required: Adult CPR and AED always, plus Child and Infant tests when those optional parts are taught.
- The written exam is optional, needs at least 84% if given, and allows reference materials.
What the Words in the Name Actually Mean
"Heartsaver CPR AED" is a three-part label, and each part carries a specific meaning.
- Heartsaver is the American Heart Association's brand family of courses for people with little or no medical training: workplace responders, teachers, coaches, parents, childcare workers, volunteers and anyone else who wants to be ready for a cardiac emergency. It is the lay-rescuer line, distinct from the healthcare-provider line.
- CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation: chest compressions and rescue breaths performed on a person whose heart has stopped or who is not breathing normally.
- AED stands for automated external defibrillator, the portable device that analyzes a heart rhythm and, if appropriate, delivers a shock to help restore a normal rhythm. The course teaches you to apply the pads and follow the device's prompts.
Put together, the phrase names one specific AHA course: the Heartsaver course that teaches CPR and AED use, without the broader first aid content found in a sibling course. If you want the plain-language definitions in several phrasings, our pages on what Heartsaver CPR AED is and what Heartsaver CPR AED stands for approach the same question from different angles.
Course Completion Card vs. "Certification": A Meaningful Difference
Search results and training-provider pages routinely call this a "Heartsaver CPR AED certification," and in everyday speech that is understandable. The issuer's own wording is more careful. AHA issues a course-completion card that documents satisfactory performance at the completion of the course, and it explicitly distinguishes that from certifying people in CPR. In practical terms, the card shows that you finished the required curriculum and demonstrated the required skills to an instructor.
Why does the distinction matter? Because employers, licensing boards and school programs sometimes write requirements in terms of a specific card title. Before you book anything, confirm which card your workplace or program names. Our overview of Heartsaver CPR AED certification and the page on what Heartsaver CPR AED certification means in practice cover how the term is used loosely across the industry.
Card validity
The card is valid for two years, through the end of the month in which it was issued. Renewal routes, completion requirements and prices are arranged through the AHA Training Center that issues your card. No separate continuing-education quota for maintaining this particular card was found in the reviewed materials. For the eligibility angle, see Heartsaver CPR AED requirements.
What the Course Covers: The 12 Topics
The current curriculum follows the 2025 AHA Guidelines. The topic list below comes from AHA's published course topics and path table for the CPR AED path. Treat it as a preparation curriculum, not an official written-exam blueprint: AHA does not publish percentage weights or a "largest domain" for this course, and the topics are not a weighted list of exam content. Topics marked NA for CPR AED in the table, including the separate First Aid curriculum, are excluded.
| # | Topic | Status in this course path |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | Required |
| 2 | Adult CPR AED: Compressions, Breaths, and AED | Required |
| 3 | Child CPR AED: Compressions, Breaths, and AED | Optional |
| 4 | Infant CPR AED: Compressions, Breaths, and AED | Optional |
| 5 | Adult Choking Relief | Required |
| 6 | Child Choking Relief | Optional |
| 7 | Infant Choking Relief | Optional |
| 8 | Opioid-Associated Emergency | Required |
| 9 | Water Competency and Drowning | Required |
| 10 | Heart Attack | Required |
| 11 | Stroke | Required |
| 12 | Conclusion | Required |
For a deeper walk through each area, see the complete guide to all 12 content areas. Here is what matters most inside the groups.
Adult CPR AED: Compressions, Breaths, and AED
This is the core of the course and the one skill set every learner must demonstrate.
- Recognizing an unresponsive adult who is not breathing normally and calling for help
- Performing high-quality compressions and giving breaths
- Turning on an AED, applying pads, and following its prompts, including clearing the person before a shock
Child and Infant CPR AED (optional components)
These topics matter if your role involves children, such as teaching, childcare or coaching. They are optional in the course path, so ask your instructor whether your class includes them.
- Age-appropriate technique differences for children and infants
- Child and infant AED considerations, including the optional infant AED material
- The matching Child CPR and Infant CPR Skills Tests when these parts are taught
Choking Relief
Adult choking relief is required; child and infant choking relief are optional. Expect to practice recognizing severe airway blockage and the appropriate response for each age group, and to know what to do if the person becomes unresponsive.
The "emergency recognition" topics
Four topics broaden the course beyond cardiac arrest: opioid-associated emergency, water competency and drowning, heart attack, and stroke. Learners should be able to recognize the situation, call for help, and perform the lay-rescuer response the course teaches.
How You Complete It: Skills Tests and the Optional Written Exam
This is the area where generic prep sites most often mislead learners, so it helps to be exact.
What is required
To earn the course-completion card you complete the applicable course curriculum and satisfactorily perform the Adult CPR and AED Skills Test. If the optional child and infant components are taught in your class, you also complete the Child CPR and Infant CPR Skills Tests. A separate fixed duration for the skills test is not publicly verified.
What is optional
A written exam is optional, typically needed only when an employer or regulator asks for it. When it is administered, current AHA policy sets these terms:
- A passing score of at least 84%
- Questions are scenario-based
- Reference materials are allowed, including the workbook or eBook, your notes and the guidelines
- Discussion with other students or the instructor during the exam is prohibited
- No AHA-mandated completion time
Some things are not publicly verified for this specific course: the exact number of written questions, any scored/unscored breakdown, and a complete question-format specification. A figure of 10 to 25 questions appears in AHA's faculty guide, but it describes five Heartsaver exam forms collectively and is not an exact count for this course. Any site claiming a universal "20-question, closed-book, proctored" Heartsaver exam is stating more than the issuer's policy supports. AHA does not publish a pass rate for this course either, so provider guarantees and "99% pass" banners are marketing claims about one school, not issuer statistics. Our pages on the passing score and what pass-rate data does and does not show go into this further, and how hard the Heartsaver CPR AED exam is explains why the real challenge is usually the hands-on demonstration.
Key Takeaway
For most learners, the skills test is the real gate. Practice compressions, AED pad placement and prompt-following until they are fluent; treat the optional written exam as a scenario-reading exercise you can approach with your workbook open.
Formats, Cost Components and Duration
Delivery formats
AHA describes several routes: classroom, blended learning and approved self-guided learning. In blended learning you finish the online portion first and then complete hands-on assessment. The self-guided option (Heartsaver Direct) is online learning followed by warm-up, practice and skills testing at a manikin station. A virtual route (Heartsaver Virtual) permits instructor-observed hands-on completion using a training kit and feedback app, so physical presence in a shared classroom is not universal. The unifying rule is that online study alone is insufficient. Before booking, confirm that the configuration you choose issues the exact Heartsaver CPR AED card rather than a different one. Our page on Heartsaver CPR AED training compares the routes.
What you actually pay for
Cost has separate pieces, and conflating them is the most common budgeting mistake.
| Cost component | What is verified |
|---|---|
| Online portion (2025 Heartsaver CPR AED Online, product 25-1401) | USD $19.50 on the official ShopCPR listing, including the student eBook |
| Hands-on skills session | Purchased separately; priced by the Training Center |
| All-inclusive class fees and renewals | Set by independent Training Centers; no national member/non-member rates verified |
| Written exam fee | Not a universal fee, since the written exam is optional |
The $19.50 figure covers only the online portion and was the listing price when this page was reviewed. The product was released on October 22, 2025 and replaces the earlier 20-1401 listing. The included eBook is a combined Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED student eBook, which does not widen the scope of the CPR AED course. See the full pricing breakdown and the ROI analysis for how to weigh total cost.
How long it takes
AHA's course FAQ estimates about 1.5 hours of instructor-led instruction, excluding optional topics and breaks; that figure reflects required-topic video time with some discussion. Other issuer pages show broader duration ranges, and your actual time depends on configuration, class size and which optional components are added. Do not read instructional hours as exam timing, since the written exam has no AHA-mandated timer.
Lookalike Names: Heartsaver CPR AED vs. First Aid CPR AED vs. BLS
Search results often use "Heartsaver" as shorthand for First Aid CPR AED or even BLS. They are different programs.
| Program | Intended learner | Scope difference |
|---|---|---|
| Heartsaver CPR AED | Laypeople with little or no medical training | CPR, AED, choking, plus opioid, drowning, heart attack and stroke topics |
| Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED | Laypeople needing first aid as well | Adds the separate First Aid curriculum |
| BLS | Healthcare providers | Provider-level resuscitation course, a different line altogether |
If you are weighing options for a clinical job, ask the employer which course they name before choosing a lay-rescuer course. Our write-ups on the meaning of Heartsaver CPR AED and what the name signals about course scope help you read course titles correctly.
Who Takes It and Who Asks for It
The course is built for people with little or no medical training. AHA specifies no prior credential, degree, experience hours or references, and sets no minimum learner age, although each learner must demonstrate the required skills. Typical learners include:
- Office and facility staff who serve as designated responders
- Teachers, coaches and childcare workers (who often want the optional child and infant components)
- Fitness and recreation staff, and people responsible for pools or waterfront areas
- Parents, caregivers and community volunteers
Whether a given employer accepts this card is that employer's decision, so verify it directly instead of assuming universal acceptance. On earnings, no Heartsaver-specific salary distribution or causal pay premium was found; the course functions as a workplace prerequisite or preparedness credential, not a standalone occupation. Our pages on jobs that ask for Heartsaver CPR AED and the salary analysis explain how to evaluate that honestly.
A Topic-Ordered Review Plan
You do not need an elaborate system for a lay-rescuer course. If you want structure, schedule by the course's own topics, spending the most time on the skills you will be tested on hands-on.
Adult core
- Adult CPR AED: compressions, breaths and AED sequence
- Adult choking relief
- Rehearse aloud, since this is the required skills test
Recognition topics
- Opioid-associated emergency, water competency and drowning
- Heart attack and stroke recognition
Optional child/infant, then review
- Child and infant CPR AED and choking relief, if your class includes them
- Re-run adult skills and, if your employer requires it, scenario questions aimed at the 84% written threshold
Keep a study guide and a one-page cheat sheet handy for last-minute review, and when you want practice with scenario-style questions, try the practice tests on the main site. Dates for scheduling skills sessions vary by Training Center; see exam dates and scheduling, and browse more at the cprstudy.com practice test hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
It names an American Heart Association course for laypeople that teaches cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED), along with related topics such as choking relief, opioid emergencies, drowning, heart attack and stroke.
AHA issues a course-completion card documenting satisfactory performance at the end of the course and explicitly distinguishes it from certifying people in CPR. Many providers still call it a certification informally, so confirm what your employer's requirement names.
No, the written exam is optional and generally used when an employer or regulator requires it. The required part is the hands-on Adult CPR and AED Skills Test, plus Child and Infant CPR Skills Tests if those components are taught. If a written exam is given, the policy calls for at least 84% and allows reference materials.
No. Online study alone is insufficient, and a hands-on skills session with an instructor is required. The online product (listed at $19.50 on the official storefront) covers only the online portion, and the skills session is purchased separately.
The course-completion card is valid for two years, through the end of the issue month. Renewal options, requirements and fees are arranged through your AHA Training Center.