- What the Heartsaver CPR AED Actually Is
- A Course-Completion Card, Not a "Certification Exam"
- The 12 Course Topics You Will Cover
- Required Versus Optional Components
- How You Are Assessed
- Classroom, Blended, Self-Guided and Virtual Routes
- Cost and Time: What Is Verified
- Heartsaver CPR AED vs. First Aid CPR AED vs. BLS
- Who Takes It and Who Asks For It
- Card Validity and Renewal
- A Domain-Based Preparation Plan
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Heartsaver CPR AED is an American Heart Association course for people with little or no medical training.
- The AHA issues a course-completion card; the core assessment is a hands-on Adult CPR and AED Skills Test.
- The written exam is optional, requires at least 84% if given, and allows reference materials.
- Online learning alone is not enough; a hands-on skills session is always required.
What the Heartsaver CPR AED Actually Is
Heartsaver CPR AED is a lay-rescuer course from the American Heart Association (AHA). It teaches ordinary people (teachers, coaches, office staff, childcare workers, fitness instructors, parents and anyone else without a medical background) how to recognize a cardiac emergency, perform CPR and use an automated external defibrillator (AED). The AHA sets no minimum learner age and specifies no prior credential, degree, experience hours or references. The only real entry requirement is that you can demonstrate the required skills by the end of the course.
This article is about that specific course. It is not the same as Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED, which adds a separate first aid curriculum. It is also not Basic Life Support (BLS), which is aimed at healthcare providers, and it is not an instructor credential. Many web pages use "Heartsaver" as loose shorthand for several of these, which is why careful readers should confirm exactly which card a course issues before they pay. If you want a quick orientation on naming, our explainers on the Heartsaver CPR AED basics and the meaning of each term in the name cover the vocabulary.
A Course-Completion Card, Not a "Certification Exam"
This is the single most misunderstood point. The AHA issues a course-completion card documenting that you satisfactorily performed the required skills at the end of the course. The AHA explicitly distinguishes this from "certifying" a person in CPR. Colloquially, almost everyone (including employers) calls it a CPR certification, and our own overview of Heartsaver CPR AED certification uses that everyday language. Just understand that the formal document is a completion card.
The 12 Course Topics You Will Cover
The AHA's Heartsaver topic list for the CPR AED path contains twelve items, including an introduction and a conclusion. These are preparation-curriculum topics. They are unweighted, and the AHA publishes no percentage weights, no "largest domain" and no official written-exam domain count. Treat them as a syllabus, not a scoring blueprint. For a deeper walk through each one, see the complete guide to all 12 content areas.
| # | 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 |
Adult CPR AED: Compressions, Breaths, and AED
This is the heart of the course and the focus of the mandatory skills test. Expect to practice on a manikin until your technique is consistent.
- Recognizing that a person is unresponsive and not breathing normally
- Activating emergency response and getting an AED
- Delivering effective compressions and breaths
- Attaching AED pads and following the device's prompts
Opioid-Associated Emergency, Water Competency and Drowning, Heart Attack, Stroke
These four topics are what set the current course apart from older, CPR-only classes. Learners who studied from older materials should not skip them.
- Recognizing and responding to an opioid-associated emergency
- Understanding water competency and how drowning emergencies differ from other cardiac events
- Recognizing heart attack warning signs and acting quickly
- Recognizing stroke signs and why speed matters
Required Versus Optional Components
Child CPR AED, Infant CPR AED, Child Choking Relief and Infant Choking Relief (topics 3, 4, 6 and 7) are optional components. Everything else listed above is required in this course path. Topics the AHA table marks "NA" for the CPR AED column are excluded, including the separate First Aid curriculum. So if you see a class description that bundles wound care, burns or bleeding control, it is describing a different course.
The practical implication: your employer or licensing program decides whether you need the child and infant material. A childcare worker, school employee or pediatric-facing staff member will usually want those components; an office safety warden may need only the adult content. Confirm with whoever requires the card before you book. The details of what different employers expect are covered in our requirements and eligibility guide.
How You Are Assessed
The skills test comes first
To earn the card you must complete the applicable course curriculum and satisfactorily perform the Adult CPR and AED Skills Test. If the optional child and infant components are taught, you also complete the Child CPR and Infant CPR Skills Tests. A separate fixed skills-test duration is not publicly verified, so don't trust any site quoting an exact number of minutes.
The written exam is conditional
A written exam is optional and exists mainly to satisfy certain employer or regulatory needs. When it is administered, current AHA policy specifies:
- A minimum score of 84%
- Scenario-based questions
- Reference materials allowed, including the workbook/eBook, your notes and the guidelines
- No discussion with other students or the instructor during the exam
- No AHA-mandated completion time
The exact number of written questions for this course, the scored/unscored breakdown and a complete question-format specification are not publicly verified. You may see "20 questions" quoted on third-party sites, but that figure is not confirmed for this specific course. The same applies to pass rates: the AHA does not publish an aggregate pass rate for Heartsaver CPR AED, so any "99% pass rate" or "100% guarantee" you see is a local training provider's marketing claim, not an AHA statistic. We unpack this in our article on what pass-rate data does and does not show, and the scoring threshold is covered in the passing score explainer.
Classroom, Blended, Self-Guided and Virtual Routes
The course can be delivered several ways through AHA Training Centers and Instructors. No independent examination vendor is identified in the reviewed issuer materials; your Training Center handles administration.
| Format | How it works | What to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom | Instructor-led teaching and skills practice in person | Schedule and Training Center fees |
| Blended | Complete the online portion first, then attend hands-on skills practice and testing | Online part must be finished before the hands-on session |
| Self-guided (Heartsaver Direct) | Online learning, then warm-up, practice and skills testing at a manikin station | That the booked configuration issues the exact CPR AED card |
| Virtual | Instructor-observed hands-on completion using a training kit and feedback app | Whether your employer accepts this route |
The key rule: online study alone is insufficient. Whatever route you choose, a hands-on skills assessment is part of earning the card. Also note that the faculty guide describes classroom administration of the written exam even for blended learners, so ask your Training Center how an optional exam would be handled. For more on how these routes fit together, see our page on Heartsaver CPR AED training options.
Cost and Time: What Is Verified
Cost components
The pricing picture has several layers, and sites often blur them together:
- Online portion: The current official ShopCPR listing for the 2025 Heartsaver CPR AED Online (product 25-1401) shows USD $19.50, including the student eBook. It was released October 22, 2025, and replaces product 20-1401.
- Hands-on skills session: Purchased separately from the online product.
- All-inclusive and renewal fees: Set by independent Training Centers. No national member or non-member rates have been verified.
So the $19.50 figure is only the online piece, not the total cost of earning the card. Prices vary by location and provider, which is why a dated, component-by-component view is more useful than a single headline number. Our pricing breakdown explains how to compare quotes.
How long it takes
AHA's course FAQ estimates roughly 1.5 hours of instructor-led instruction for the required topics, excluding optional topics and breaks. That figure reflects video time with some discussion. Actual duration depends on your course configuration, optional modules and class size, and other AHA pages show broader estimates. Do not confuse instructional hours with exam timing; there is no AHA-mandated written-exam timer.
Heartsaver CPR AED vs. First Aid CPR AED vs. BLS
Choosing the wrong card is the most common and most expensive mistake. Here is how the three are positioned:
| Credential | Audience | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Heartsaver CPR AED | Lay rescuers with little or no medical training | CPR, AED and choking relief, plus opioid emergency, drowning, heart attack and stroke topics |
| Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED | Lay rescuers whose workplace requires first aid | Adds a separate First Aid curriculum |
| BLS | Healthcare providers and similar professionals | Provider-level resuscitation skills; a different course and card |
The combined First Aid CPR AED student eBook is included with the online product, but that does not expand the scope of the selected CPR AED course. If your employer needs first aid coverage, a CPR AED card alone will not satisfy that. Always verify the exact card name your employer or program requires. We compare these options at greater length in our quick-reference cheat sheet, and learners weighing providers may also want to compare AHA and Red Cross formats.
Who Takes It and Who Asks For It
Heartsaver CPR AED suits people whose job or role makes them a likely first responder but who are not clinicians. Typical examples include school and childcare staff, coaches and fitness instructors, security personnel, office safety teams, community volunteers and parents. Employers and organizations set their own requirements, and acceptance is not universal, so check with the requesting party instead of assuming.
On the earnings side, be cautious. No Heartsaver-specific salary distribution or causal earnings premium has been verified. Heartsaver CPR AED is a workplace training requirement or credential-in-support, not a standalone occupation, so the sensible comparison is between your role's training requirements and your total cost. Our salary analysis, discussion of jobs that ask for the card and worth-it ROI breakdown treat this honestly rather than promising a pay bump.
Card Validity and Renewal
The card is valid for two years through the end of the issue month. Renewal options, completion requirements and prices are arranged through your Training Center. No separate continuing-education maintenance quota has been verified for this course-completion card. Note that the ShopCPR listing mentions a continuing-education termination date for the product; that is a product-lifecycle detail, not your card's expiry.
The current course follows the 2025 AHA Guidelines, and the AHA's U.S. transition guidance requires 2025 teaching materials from March 1, 2026. If you are studying from older notes or an older eBook, make sure your instructor is teaching from current materials. If you are wondering about scheduling, our article on scheduling and timing explains why there are no fixed national exam dates.
A Domain-Based Preparation Plan
You do not need months of study, but a short, structured plan helps, especially if your employer requires the optional written exam. Here is one tied to the actual course topics. Our full study guide offers more detail, and you can test yourself on the main practice test site.
Adult CPR AED and Adult Choking Relief
- Master the adult sequence from recognition to AED use, since it is tested hands-on
- Watch the AED pad placement and prompt-following steps until they feel automatic
Child and Infant components (if applicable)
- Review the differences in technique for children and infants
- Skip this week only if your employer confirms the adult components are enough
Opioid, Drowning, Heart Attack, Stroke
- Learn recognition cues and first actions for each emergency
- Practice scenario thinking, which mirrors the open-resource written format
Because the exam permits reference materials, annotate your workbook or eBook so you can find answers quickly. For a final scan, the one-page review is a handy companion, and our practice questions at cprstudy.com help you check your recall of scenarios.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. First Aid CPR AED adds a separate first aid curriculum. Heartsaver CPR AED covers CPR, AED, choking relief and the opioid, drowning, heart attack and stroke topics, without the First Aid content.
No. Online study alone is insufficient. You must complete a hands-on skills session, whether in a classroom, at a manikin station after online learning, or through an instructor-observed virtual route.
A written exam is optional and used mainly for employer or regulatory needs. If administered, the current policy requires at least 84%, allows reference materials and imposes no AHA-mandated time limit.
Two years through the end of the month it was issued. Renewal options, requirements and fees are arranged with your AHA Training Center.
No. The course is designed for people with little or no medical training, and the AHA sets no minimum learner age, though you must be able to demonstrate the required skills.