What are American Heart Association ECards?
What are American Heart Association E-Cards?
I took my first American Heart Association (AHA) BLS for Healthcare Providers CPR class in 1991. Every 2 years since I’ve gone back to an AHA Training Center to take these classes and receive my Certification Cards in BLS, ACLS, and PALS so that I can continue to renew my California EMSA Paramedic License and keep working.
The two (2) year Certification Cards we receive at the end of our AHA course are not only proof that our hard work and studying paid off, but they are required in order for us to maintain our credential (and jobs) as healthcare professionals or those with an OSHA required workplace requirement.
If you are like most (and I know I am), you will wait until the last week of the month you are going to expire every two years, and if you don’t have a new card before the first of the month you will expire and face potential disciplinary action from your employer… Yikes!
Well, are you ready for some BIG NEWS?
American Heart Association certification card guidelines are changing in January 2019. Sounds scary but we will keep it simple.
The paper Certification Cards you have always walked out of class with, are going away and the AHA is making a transition over to their new ‘E-Card’ system.
As of this writing, our AHA Training Center staff has already been trained on the E-Card program so that we can make this transition as smooth as possible for our students.
This new E-Card system is great and has many benefits such as:
- Reduction in paper waste! This truly is an awesome effort by the AHA to ‘Go-Green’!
- No more ‘Lost Certification Card’ fees. Those of you that have requested replacement cards know they aren’t cheap
- Most important, your employer can verify your compliance anytime by getting on the AHA website and immediately confirming that you successfully completed your class!
That is all of bunch of great information but the question still remains, HOW DO I GET MY CARD?
At the end of your official American Heart Association class, we (the AHA Training Center) go behind the scenes and document your success on the AHA’s E-Card website. Once we do that, you will immediately receive an e-mail at the e-mail address you provided us during registration.
This email will contain all the information you need, including a clickable link to access the AHA’s website. Once there, you will fill out a Course Evaluation answering a few simple questions about your experience. After you complete the Course Evaluation, you then have the ability to print your official AHA certificate or tell your supervisor they can look you up! Once you get the email from the Training Center the process to fill out the Course Evaluation and print your e-card takes about 5 minutes tops.
While Course Evaluations have always been a great mechanism for monitoring the performance of instructors, the AHA is now directly receiving those course evaluations and monitoring the feedback on instructors and not the Training Center.
Word of caution, on behalf of your instructor. When filling out your Course Evaluation, please read the questions and the answer choices thoroughly when making your selection.
Although E-Cards are going to be a new change to what we are all accustomed to, don’t be scared.
As an American Heart Association Training Center in the Sacramento area, we will do everything we can to take the mystery out of this process and show you just how easy and convenient E-Cards are!
