ECC Beat 10/30/2025

The American Heart Association’s 2025 Guidelines for CPR and ECC are here, and we’re thrilled to help you navigate the new products and materials designed to elevate your training and impact. These updates reflect the latest science and best practices to improve outcomes and save lives.

As you explore the new guidelines, here are key resources and actions to keep you on track:

• Guidelines and the next steps for Instructors – Learn more about the Guidelines in the new “What are Guidelines and Steps for Instructors to Stay Up to Date After Guidelines Release” video (Atlas log-in required). For a checklist of tasks covered in the video, please log into the Association’s online Instructor Community (Atlas log-in required).
• How-To Guide for Managing Instructor Updates in Training Central – This guide is available in the Instructor Community (Atlas log-in required) for Training Center Coordinators and walks through how to assign and manage the Instructor Update courses in Training Central.
• If you assigned the Instructor Update and Product and Course Orientation Bundle to your Instructors through Training Central: Please note: The bundle will not show a status of “Complete” until the Instructor completes both courses. If you are not requiring your Instructors to complete the optional Product and Course Orientation portion, you may verify they completed the Instructor Update portion by exporting your list of students with an “In Progress” status and viewing the status of each course in the exported file.
• Atlas: 2025 provider courses are now available in the “Create a Class” tool so that you can create provider classes aligned with the new 2025 Guidelines. Once created, 2025 provider courses not listed as private can then appear in the “Find a Class” tool. Both 2020 and 2025 products and eCards are also available.
• 2025 Interim Training Materials and 2025 Instructor Resources – When you log into Atlas, you will navigate to Training Resources > Course Information, where you will find 2025 Interim Training Materials and 2025 Instructor Resources for each course.
• Purchasing 2020 Materials on ShopCPR – If you need to purchase 2020 products, please search by product name with “2020” included (for example, “2020 Heartsaver eCard”) or by product code. Product codes for 2020 products can be found towards the bottom of the recent CPR and ECC Materials List. Please n ote: Remember to issue the correct eCard (2020 vs. 2025). 
• Stay Current with Course Change Notices – The Course Updates page is your go-to resource for corrections discovered post-launch. These updates are dynamic and continually edited to reflect the latest information. Check this page regularly to stay up-to-date on products and materials for each discipline.
• Guidelines Webinar Recordings Now Available – Find the links to the full webinar recordings on the Virtual Experience webpage.

Another helpful reminder is to close out classes and finalize rosters by Feb. 28, 2026.

For all most recent information and resources, visit the Science and Guidelines News webpage that can be accessed once you log into Atlas. We’re happy to support you as you implement these changes and continue delivering high-quality training.

2025 AHA Science In-Service: Your Guide to the Guidelines

Learn the latest resuscitation science and key changes in the 2025 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC!

The 2025 AHA Guidelines Science In-Service is an online course designed to provide healthcare providers information on new science and key changes published in the 2025 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC. This interactive, self-paced, multidisciplinary course offers a full overview of resuscitation science changes impacting basic, advanced, and pediatric life support. The course highlights science and guidelines recommendations that are most significant or those that will result in changes in resuscitation practice and protocols.

Learn more: https://shopcpr.heart.org/aha-guidelines-science-in-service

Left to right: Lindsey Bourne APRN, stroke survivor Jane Beazley, and Dr. Eli Johnson. Bourne and Johnson were part of the healthcare team at Baptist Health in Little Rock, Arkansas, who saved Beazley’s life. (Photo by American Heart Association)

Advanced Stroke Life Support® Training Helps Save Lives: Jane’s Story

Baptist Health in Little Rock, Arkansas, recently achieved a record-setting 2-minute door-to-needle time for stroke patient Jane Beazley on her 77th birthday, thanks in part to their team’s Advanced Stroke Life Support (ASLS®) training. ASLS, developed by the American Heart Association and the University of Miami’s Gordon Center, equips healthcare professionals to quickly identify and manage stroke symptoms—critical when every minute counts. Jane’s story serves as a powerful reminder of how timely, evidence-based training can save lives.

ASLS is widely adopted by hospitals, EMS systems, and educational institutions across the globe. It’s ideal for a broad range of healthcare providers, including nurses, paramedics, physicians, and medical students. ACLS Training Centers interested in offering the ASLS Blended Learning Course can email education.sales@email.education.heart.org for more information or contact Harold Kellogg at Harold.kellogg@heart.org to begin the application process. There is no cost to add ASLS to your offerings, making it an accessible way to improve stroke care in your community.

Explore this short video to learn more about Jane’s story and how her healthcare team set a new record.

Don’t Miss the Resuscitation Meeting of the Year

• 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | BLS & Heartsaver
  Review and Discuss the 2025 AHA Guidelines for CPR & ECC
  Presented by Ian Drennan, ACP, PhD Vice-Chair, BLS · Mark Terry, MPA, NRP
• 1:00 – 3:00 PM | ACLS
  Review and Discuss the 2025 AHA Guidelines for CPR & ECC
  Presented by Michael Kurz, MD, MS, FACEP, FAEMS, FAHA Chair, ALS · Kenny Navarro, MEd, LP 
• 3:00 – 5:00 PM | PALS
  Review and Discuss the 2025 AHA Guidelines for CPR & ECC
  Presented by Alexis Topjian, MD, MSCE, FAHA Co-Chair, PALS · Mary McBride, MD, Med Vice Chair, Special Circumstances · Tia Raymond, MD, MBA, FAAP, FAHA, FCCM, Co-Chair, PBLS

During a youth baseball game in Palm Beach County, Florida, 6-year-old Oscar Stuebe collapsed after being struck in the chest by a ball, triggering commotio cordis—a rare cardiac arrest caused by blunt trauma. His mother Sarah, a nurse, immediately began CPR while calling for an AED, which unfortunately wasn’t available at the field. A nearby physician’s assistant joined in the resuscitation efforts until paramedics arrived and used an AED to restore Oscar’s heartbeat. After a tense ambulance ride and emergency care, Oscar miraculously regained consciousness and began recovering, thanks to the swift CPR and medical response.

Now fully recovered, Oscar and his family have turned their experience into advocacy. They founded the Oscar Strong Foundation to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest in youth sports and promote CPR education and AED accessibility. The foundation has already secured an AED for the field where Oscar collapsed and is working to normalize protective gear like heart shirts for young athletes. Sarah and Riley urge all families and teams to be prepared: know CPR, have an emergency plan, and ensure AEDs are as visible and accessible as exit signs—because in moments like Oscar’s, time truly is life. Follow for Oscar’s amazing story.

The American Heart Association Course Card Reference Guide (CCRG) has been updated in October 2025 to reflect the addition of the 2025 Guidelines course completion cards.

As the Guidelines 2020 course completion cards are still valid, the Guidelines 2020 course completion cards are still referenced within the CCRG.

Access to the updated CCRG can be found here and within the Association Program Administration Manual (PAM).

As a reminder, the CCRG is not a policy document, but is a quality control tool. The CCRG provides a means to ensure that Heart Association course completion cards are valid.