Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Instructor Course

Course by Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Course Description: Becoming a Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) instructor Course by Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada is a profound way to leave a lifesaving legacy and become a difference-maker. Combine your expertise, knowledge, and passion for educating others with the excellence of Heart & Stroke courses and materials and you will make an impact now and for years to come. Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) instructors are crucial in ensuring healthcare professional are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and ability to apply the PALS concepts of the Chain of Survival to lifesaving situations. Your students will include multi-disciplinary healthcare and emergency providers from various pre- and in-hospital settings. As a PALS instructor, you can offer blended and classroom PALS course formats, as well as Heartsaver courses, giving you even more flexibility.

Intended Audience: Do you have a passion for teaching? Are you committed to saving lives? If you are motivated to teach, you have a track record of delivering engaging learning, you are committed to excellence so that students learn the skills and get them right, you are organized and detailed so that students get the information they need when they need it, you are perfect candidate for this course! Some Canadians become instructors because they want to lead their colleagues in more effective skills training and positive patient outcomes. Others want to make a difference in their community so that more people feel confident and able to respond when they see an emergency. When you become an instructor, you become more than an educator. You join a community of difference-makers, create more awareness among Canadians. Teaching someone today can change so many people’s lives in the future!

Course Prerequisites:
It is important that you book your course on the First Aid Plus website first. This will ensure that you will get all the materials and pre-requisites before attending the class. After registering on the First Aid Plus you will receive an email with further instructions. To do this course, you must be at least 18 years old.

How do I become an instructor?
Becoming a PALS instructor is rewarding and challenging. To be an instructor candidate, you should exemplify integrity, demonstrate strong ethics, communicate clearly, and model a dedication to quality of training. The individual should be motivated by a commitment to lifelong learning and who possess a desire and willingness to help others apply skills and knowledge to advance their performance, confidence, and effectiveness.

Heart & Stroke instructors must meet specific qualifications and undergo an application, approval, training, and monitoring process.

When you apply, we will guide you through the process with step-by-step instructions. Here is an overview:

• Have a current HSF provider completion card in the discipline(s) you wish to teach. (BLS Provider/ACLS Provider/PALS Provider)
• Complete and submit your instructor application and pay your ($55) instructor application fee. (The fee is not included in the First Aid Plus course price, it goes right to Heart and Stroke Foundation)
• Take Core Instructor Training ($35). (The fee is not included in First Aid Plus course price, it goes right to Heart and Stroke Foundation)
• Register for, attend, and successfully complete the instructor course for your selected discipline. (Register through First Aid Plus website)
• Accept the relevant instructor agreements.
• Successfully complete monitoring on a course by a Heart & Stroke-approved experienced instructor, instructor trainer or master instructor within six months of completing the instructor course. (This can be done with First Aid Plus)
• Pay $75 annual instructor fee (pro-rated to activation date) to activate your instructor status (The fee is not included in First Aid Plus course price, it goes right to Heart and Stroke Foundation).

Heart & Stroke’s additional instructor fees as follows:

• Application fee = $55
• Core instructor training = $35
• Annual instructor fee = $75 (pro-rated to activation date)

Course Overview:
Course content: working with the student to ascertain their skill set, ability to instruct and how to conduct HSF BLS courses as per HSF Guidelines
Course duration (time/days): 8 Hours (1 day)
Certification: 3-year certification in Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Instructor

What is involved in monitoring?
Following successful completion of the instructor-level course, instructor candidates are required to be evaluated on their ability to plan and deliver a course. This process is called, “monitoring”. Monitoring is done under the mentorship of an existing instructor with eligible status. Instructor candidates can either choose to be monitored on-site at First Aid Plus or may arrange for one of our monitors to go to their location and monitor them teaching their staff. Monitoring fees change based on option chosen.

Working with a monitoring instructor, candidates will be expected to:

• Actively participate in the planning and delivery of a course in their chosen discipline
• Actively participate in the evaluation of participants in this course
• As an instructor candidate, you can request monitoring for any applicable course that's offering monitoring.
• Acceptable monitoring instructors include:
  Experienced instructor (Heart & Stroke approved), Instructor trainer or Master instructor

Course Materials
Course materials are not included in the course.

If the Hearst and Stroke approves your application to participate in the course, you will be notified which materials to purchase.

It is recommended that you read the textbook in its entirety before the course to ensure successful course completion.