Standards
What the courses are based on
Guidelines
CPR and AED lessons follow the published ILCOR consensus on science and the American Heart Association emergency cardiovascular care guidelines, including the 2025 update on choking, opioid-associated emergencies, and pediatric care. First aid lessons also draw on standard emergency-care references used in professional education.
Bloodborne-pathogen lessons address topics in OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.1030. OSHA does not issue CPR cards. Whether a card meets an employer, dental board, or Joint Commission expectation is that organization’s decision.
CPR outline
- Circulatory anatomy
- Scene safety and the chain of survival
- Recognizing heart attack and cardiac arrest
- Compressions, airway, and breathing
- Bloodborne pathogens and protective equipment
- Adult, child, and infant CPR
- Compression-only CPR and rescue breathing
- Bag-valve-mask use
- Choking care and AED use
- Written examination
AED outline
- What an AED does
- Turning the unit on and following the prompts
- Pad placement for adults
- When the device analyzes the rhythm
- Shock advised and no-shock advised
- Resuming compressions after a shock
- Wet skin, medication patches, and implanted devices
- Pediatric pads and pediatric mode
- Using adult pads if pediatric pads are not available
- Written examination
First aid outline
- Recognizing an emergency and Good Samaritan laws
- Scene safety, responsiveness, and calling EMS
- Shock, bleeding, wounds, and burns
- Poisoning and environmental illness
- Muscle and joint injuries
- Heart attack, asthma, and COPD
- Stroke, diabetes, and seizures
- Written examination