10 BLS Training Courses To Consider For 2023

1. The Basics of First Aid

Acquiring first aid skills is essential for absolutely any job or role in life. The basics of first aid must be common knowledge, making this free BLS course essential for successful employee training.

This BLS training course explores the significance of learning various first aid skills, such as proper assessment of the emergency and how to deal with various types of medical needs. Each module goes into detail about the step-by-step process for how to treat people in need.

The types of emergency treatment discussed in this course are:

• Bleeding and shock
• Heart attacks and choking
• Electrical shock and eye injury
• Burns and broken bones
• Heat, fainting, and seizures

The Basics of First Aid is available on SC Training (formerly EdApp) and can be deployed to your team already. You can also customize the course with your company branding or add a few more lessons to tailor it to your needs.

SC Training (formerly EdApp)’s courses are easier to develop, update, and distribute compared to traditional eLearning courses. It's jam-packed with interactive courseware created by industry leaders and professionals from across the world. There are hundreds of training items in this collection, including healthcare training classes, retail training, corporate training courses, construction safety courses, digital marketing courses, and so much more.

Plus, completion rates are dramatically higher in SC Training (formerly EdApp) – up to around 90% and beyond. On the other hand, traditional eLearning holds completion rates as low as 15%.

• Cost: Free (up to 10 users)
• Scope: assess the scene, heart attacks and choking, electrical shock and eye injury, burns and broken bones

Created by SC Training (formerly EdApp)

3. EMT Foundations by Coursera

Healthcare basics are an integral part of every worker’s knowledge bank. Coursera’s BLS training course helps you apply the fundamentals of emergent patient care, stabilization, and disease processes in crisis situations.

In this BLS training course offered by the University of Colorado System, you will learn to care for stable and unstable patients before they reach professional medical help, how to identify time-sensitive diseases, and medical and traumatic conditions that affect both adults and pediatric patients.

Some of the topics included in the course are:

• Assessing a scene and preparing to provide care
• Addressing airway, breathing and circulation, medications and medication administration that EMTs are allowed to provide
• Skills related to high-performance CPR, toxicology, and wilderness emergency medicine
• Skills for trauma emergencies

While the course contains a comprehensive syllabus, it can turn off people who may be looking for lessons that are concise and quick to accomplish. Aside from that, Coursera follows a lecture-type structure in their lessons where learners are expected to watch videos and answer typical multiple-choice assessments after.

• Cost: Free
• Scope: CPR, breathing and circulation, medications, trauma emergencies

Created by Coursera

5. First Aid, CPR and AED Certification Course by Cascade Training Center

Cascade Training Center offers this American Heart Association (AHA) First Aid, CPR and AED certification course designed for individuals with limited or no medical training experience to meet job, regulatory or other requirements. This BLS training course is instructor-led. You can practice the exercises while watching AHA videos. It includes focused skills learning and assessments throughout the program.

The BLS training course is based on the most current AHA science with the following modules:

• First Aid Basics
• Medical Emergencies
• Injury Emergencies
• Environmental Emergencies
• Adult CPR and AED use
• Optional Modules: Child CPR and AED Use and Infant CPR

Like the course mentioned above, this is a paid course which isn’t ideal for those looking for microlessons and time flexibility. You would have to dedicate a day or two in order to accomplish the entire course.

Cost: Varies depending on course requirements

Scope: first aid basics, medical emergencies, injury emergencies

Created by Cascade Training Center

6. Basic Life Support (BLS) by AHA

AHA’s BLS training course equips your learners to promptly recognize several life-threatening emergencies, give high-quality chest compressions, deliver appropriate ventilations, and provide early use of an AED. This training reflects science and education from the American Heart Association Guidelines Update for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC).

The course includes: 

• High-quality CPR for adults, children, and infants
• The AHA Chain of Survival, specifically the BLS components
• Important early use of an AED
• Effective ventilations using a barrier device
• Importance of teams in multirescuer resuscitation and performance as an effective team member during multirescuer CPR
• Relief of foreign-body airway obstruction (choking) for adults and infants

Basic Life Support (BLS) training is accessible in two formats: blended learning and classroom instruction. The blended learning method is presented in the form of self-directed learning content, probes, and Cognitive Assessment Activities. The classroom method is designed for those looking for a more traditional learning setting with instructors to guide them through the process. 

A con to consider – if you’re looking at this course as an option – is that even with the blended learning session, your workers will be required to book a face-to-face session in order to complete the course. Sessions and classes are also dependent upon availability within your area and are limited to those living in the US.

• Cost: up to 90 USD for course materials alone; varying on face-to-face sessions and classes
• Scope: CPR, AED, AHA chain of survival, relief of foreign-body airway obstruction

Created by American Heart Association

8. Basic Life Support (BLS) Course by AHSI

AHSI’s BLS training course teaches learners how to recognize a life-threatening emergency, how to provide basic life support, and what to do in case of an airway obstruction or choking. It has been approved for training for Emergency Medical Services personnel – apart from training non-medical staff – and is accepted by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT).

The course is currently only available in instructional video format. Videos contain demonstrations of what to do during a crisis as well as lectures to teach terminology and guidelines to learners.

It can be a hassle to take this course since it requires all takers to pass their written evaluation and skills evaluation before being issued a certificate. This may not be the right course for you if you’re looking to learn only the basics, want to dedicate less time for BLS training, and have more flexibility to take it or retake it whenever you want.

• Cost: 140 – 225 USD
• Scope: BLS, choking, identifying life-threatening emergencies

Created by AHSI

10. Basic Life Support Training by Petrosphere Inc.

Basic Life Support (BLS) Training for Healthcare Provider is a blended course where your learners can get a basic grasp of life support knowledge. It includes emergency assessment training, CPR demonstrations, and other related BLS knowledge. While this is targeted toward healthcare providers, learners in the non-medical field can also take advantage of this course.

You can complete the training by Petrosphere Inc at your own pace and online. Following the completion of the online course, you must also take a skills exam with the trainer. Unlike other online courses, you will only have a limited time to access the course. After 10 days upon purchasing the lesson, you’ll be expected to be done with all of the content and the assessment.

• Cost: Free
• Scope: emergency assessment, CPR

Created by Petrosphere Inc.