How long do you need to learn the basics of CPR? Will you master the essentials if you dedicate a day to such learning? Or maybe a week? How about four hours?

A high quality online CPR course that’s packed with information can be completed in a couple of hours. By joining such a class, you’ll learn a lot more than you believe is possible in that short amount of time. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the key types of information that a four-hour CPR certification course online will encompass.

The Core Skills Featured in a CPR Certification Course Online

We need to start by saying that online CPR courses aren’t created equal.

There are AHA online CPR courses and programs that follow Red Cross guidelines. These educational opportunities offer a lot more value and insight than random online programs. It’s also vital to choose a learning program created and delivered by knowledgeable, experienced instructors. Professionals who have hands-on experience with CPR and first aid, as well as the proper certification, are the ones that will provide the most reliable educational materials.

You should always check out the curriculum before signing up for a course, even if the opportunity is a fairly inexpensive one. Otherwise, you may end up wasting your time without learning the key things you need to know in order to address emergencies effectively.

This being said, here’s what a good online CPR course has to offer:

  • Scene size-up: the initial assessment of a scene is probably the most vital step when it comes to undertaking effective action later on. A good CPR certification course online should teach you how to examine an emergency situation and how to maximize safety before initiating any kind of intervention.
  • Precautions: speaking of your safety, it’s another important essential that will be covered in a good course, no matter how brief it is. The program should feature sufficient information on common risks and ensuring your own safety before administering CPR.
  • Legal considerations: relevant regulations like the Good Samaritan Law have to be outlined in a CPR course. The same applies to patient consent and abandonment specifics.
  • The CPR chain of survival: what steps should you undertake and in what order? Knowing the correct sequence can definitely save lives.
  • CPR essentials: we’re now getting to the specific information you’ve come to the course for. The course should give you a clear explanation of what CPR is, how it works, what the benefits of CPR are and when it should be administered.
  • Performing CPR: now we’re moving on to the practical side of things. Once you’ve acquainted yourself with the laws and the theory, it’s time to learn how to actually perform CPR. That part of the course will focus on performing chest compressions, understanding CAB (compression, airway and breathing), checking for response and continuing to deliver CPR until an emergency team arrives.
  • Additional information: apart from these essentials, good courses that can be completed in a couple of hours will often feature additional types of useful information. Some of these include the differences between performing CPR on adults and children, CPR face masks and face shields (plus how to use those), automated external defibrillator (AED) use and special considerations.

How the Information Is Delivered?

Apart from knowing what the curriculum entails, you should also check out how a four-hour CPR certification course online makes that information available.

By that, we mean the structure of the course and the formats being used.

A high quality course needs to contain both text and visual information.

Visual information can significantly speed up learning and make certain complex aspects of CPR easier to understand.

Reliable learning opportunities may contain visual information in the form of illustrations, diagrams and demonstrational videos. The final learning tool is incredibly important when it comes to acquiring the right technique. Watching a high quality video is almost as if you’re in the same room with an experienced instructor who’s carrying out a demonstration in front of you.

Additional Learning Opportunities

A good online CPR course should teach you everything mentioned above. This is the absolute minimum when it comes to mastering cardiopulmonary resuscitation and having the confidence to deliver first aid upon necessity.

Apart from considering a CPR course, you may also want to look at additional opportunities that will help you acquire even more valuable knowledge.

A combined first aid and CPR course is one such great idea. Both skills are essential to save lives. Not only that, both of them can be very beneficial when attempting to land a new job or score a promotion. Combined classes exist (here’s an example) and they’re open to everyone.

Don’t Make a Compromise with Course Quality

Four hours provide quite a lot of time.

If you are focused and accessing the learning opportunity from a distraction-free environment, you can acquire all skills needed to address cardiac arrests and other emergency events with certainty and competence.

That being said, don’t make a compromise with course quality to benefit from affordability or a rapid completion time. We’ve already talked about becoming CPR certified online and the essentials to pay attention to before signing up for a course. Please review that guide to make sure you know what you’re looking for.

And if you need a reliable, well-structured and all-encompassing learning opportunity, please take a look at our CPR/AED course. It can be completed in a couple of hours and it takes a deep look at CPR, AED use and other emergency types of assistance. Upon the completion of the course, you can take a final exam and if you pass, your certificate will become available for immediate download.