I’m an AHA Instructor, what’s next?

AHA Instructors: Teach for Yourself or Teach For Others

What you need to know as an AHA instructor now that you are ready to teach

Congratulations, your hard work has paid off and you now have an American Heart Association Instructor certification.

During your training, you learned about the infrastructure of the AHA and where you fit into the training network.  Although you are certified you can’t teach just yet, so what happens next?

First and foremost, because you are now a certified AHA instructor, in no way, shape or form does this mean you are affiliated with, or an employee of, the Training Center (TC) where you received your training.  You conducted your training, and the Training Center is simply holding your “instructor file”.

In our previous article, we briefly discussed why the American Heart Association certification cards are accepted by all governing bodies.  Remember, accountability and oversight is the name of the game.  Yes, you jumped through all the hoops to become an instructor, but to teach, a few more hoops remain all in the name of quality control.

Do I want to teach for myself or teach for somebody else?

You have to ask yourself a simple question, “Do I want to teach for myself or teach for somebody else?”.

In either case, this is where we start talking about behind the scenes contractural agreements with the Training Center.

This contract typically includes the costs, required insurances and other details of the relationship between you (the TS) and the TC.

Option 1, Teach for Yourself:

If you want to teach for yourself, effectively you are trying to start your own business as a Training Site (TS).

In doing so, one should expect the TC to request your resume along with a business plan.  Your business plan should be complete and inclusive of a lot of information such as where you plan on getting your business from and the location where you plan to teach.

This article will not cover how to structure a business, but the details of your resume and business plan are what the AHA Training Center Coordinator will look at when determining if they would like to accept you and your business model as a TS or not.

Keep in mind, a TC does not want to “take” your customers, they are in place to ensure you are upholding the AHA’s training standards.

By accepting your Training Site, the Training Center is essentially willing to invest the time and money needed to oversee your program. Again, oversee your ‘Program’, not your ‘Business’.

Typical services include course monitoring, site visits, and availability to answer any questions you may have moving forward about AHA standards.

Note, DO NOT expect the Training Center to guide you with the “business” end of the spectrum.

Operating a business according to your state’s laws, and creating internal policies for your business is entirely up to you.

Option 2, Teach for Others:

This is the easier of the two options when it comes down to being able to teach AHA classes because someone else has already done all the hard work.

Effectively you are teaching for somebody (either in the Public or Private sector) that has already established the Training Site relationship with a Training Center as discussed above.

In this case, it is very important to find out what Training Center the Training Site you want to start teaching for is aligned with and make a Request to “Transfer your Instructor File” from the Training Center where you completed your training, to the new TC.

Sounds confusing but the Training Site Coordinator you will start working for will be able to guide you through the process of transferring your instructor file.

There you have it, the general nuts and bolts of what it takes to become a successful instructor with the American Heart Association.

Remember you are now part of a community that prides itself on teaching American Heart Association courses and support is always a phone call or click away, Good Luck!