ALS has been developed using our evidence-based Guidelines and decades of experience in delivering effective resuscitation courses for healthcare professionals. The ALS course aims to help candidates build the confidence needed to take the lead in an emergency.
During the course, you will develop the knowledge and skills required to:
- Recognise and manage the deteriorating patient using a structured ABCDE approach;
- Deliver standardised CPR in adults;
- Manage a cardiac arrest by working with a multidisciplinary team in an emergency situation;
- Become an effective and confident team member and leader by utilising non-technical skills.
Our ALS qualification is recognised by the European Resuscitation Council and the Australian Resuscitation Council, giving you the freedom to use your lifesaving skills in other countries. With over 20,000 healthcare professionals trained every year, ALS covers numerous essential skills in resuscitation, including delivery of adult CPR, recognition and management of the deteriorating patient and working in a team during emergency situations.
Who is the course for?
The ALS Recertification Short Course is specifically designed for those who routinely use the skills of advanced resuscitation in their clinical practice as a member of a cardiac arrest team. Similar to the standard ALS Recertification course, individuals must hold a valid Resuscitation Council UK ALS provider certificate or have a certificate that is within twelve months of its expiry date. If more than a year has passed since the original certificate expired, the candidate must take a full ALS, e-ALS or modular ALS course.
The Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) Advanced Life Support (ALS) course is relevant to healthcare professionals, including foundation and specialist trainees, nursing staff and allied health professionals.
This curriculum map has been produced by the RCUK to illustrate the potential key capabilities that may be achieved when undertaking or instructing on an ALS course.
indicates a capability highly likely to be achieved and () indicates a capability that might be achieved by attending or instructing on the relevant RCUK course. Any capability achieved during a RCUK course will need to be accompanied by appropriate supporting evidence, and this responsibility lies with the individual.
This list is not exhaustive and other capabilities may be achieved based upon individual experiences.
Please click on the relevant curriculum or training programme to download how the RCUK ALS course may support the acquisition of key capabilities within specialist learning objectives for career or training progression.
Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RECM) 2021 Curriculum
Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA) 2021 Curriculum
The Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) 2021 Curriculum
Nursing and Midwifery Council
This is a half-day course (4.5 hours) that will take place in a Resuscitation Council UK course centre.
All of our course centres are approved and certified by Resuscitation Council UK. Courses are run by dedicated and qualified instructors, who have taken an RCUK Instructor course to guarantee that our courses are uniform and the content remains the same across our course centres.
Pre-course preparation:
Before your course, you will be registered on our Learning Management System (LMS). Here, you can access course modules and a multiple-choice question (MCQ) paper.
You will receive your course manual one month before the course. Candidates are expected to read the manual in preparation for the course and submit a completed MCQ paper before the course begins.
Candidates must achieve 80% in their pre-course MCQ paper to attend the face-to-face element of the course. Candidates can have multiple attempts to achieve the pass mark prior to attending the course.
Programme:
The course focuses on cardiac arrest management in eight Cardiac Arrest Simulation scenarios (CASTeaches). A maximum group size of four candidates means that you will have at least two opportunities to undertake the role of team leader; for the rest of the scenarios, you will act as a member of the resuscitation or clinical team.
Practical skills are taught and assessed within the scenarios, and by the end of the course, you must have demonstrated your ability to perform the psychomotor skills of:
- high-quality CPR
- defibrillation
- airway management
- DC cardioversion.
Assessment and certification:
Your management of a cardiac arrest as a team leader and performance of the skills associated with resuscitation (technical and non-technical) will be assessed using serial outcomes-based criteria. There is no post-course MCQ.
The elements that you will be assessed on are:
- assessing and managing the critically ill patient
- cardiac arrest management:
- patient assessment
- management of cardiac arrest
- recognition and treatment of cardiac arrest rhythms
- identification and treatment of relevant reversible causes
- post-resuscitation care.
- non-technical skills
- situational awareness
- decision-making
- task management
- team working
- communication.
Based on your performance in these elements, your instructors will make a global assessment of whether you have achieved the required standard or if you need further practice.
Assessment is conducted throughout each of the scenarios. Your performance of the various technical and non-technical skills must meet the assessment criteria in order for you to successfully complete the course.
Candidates who successfully complete the course will be awarded with a Resuscitation Council UK ALS provider certificate, which is valid for four years and recognised in healthcare settings in the UK, Europe and Australia.
This course is recognised as continuing professional development (CPD) by the Medical, Dental and Nursing Royal Colleges and Health Care Professional Council. Please contact your registering body for further information.
The first step is to find a course centre near you. Below, you’ll find an area where you can search for local courses and find out how to get in touch with the organiser.
Course fees are decided locally by the course centre; Resuscitation Council UK only charges the course centre £31.57 per candidate registration and £35.89 per ALS manual.
Courses often book quickly, so we would advise planning your attendance well in advance of when you want to train.
If you are a healthcare professional who would be expected to apply the skills taught as part of your clinical duties, or to teach them on a regular basis, you are eligible to participate on the ALS course. Appropriate applicants include doctors, nurses working in critical care areas (e.g. ED, CCU, ICU, HDU, operating theatres, acute medical admissions units), paramedics, ICU outreach teams or in the resuscitation/medical emergency team.
All applicants must hold a current clinical appointment and professional healthcare qualification or be in training for a professional healthcare qualification.
Medical students, student nurses and other healthcare providers not covered in the groups above should be encouraged to complete the Immediate Life Support (ILS) course. Those with a particular interest in resuscitation should then consider attending an ALS provider course, where appropriate. Medical students in their final year of training can be accepted as candidates on an ALS course if this is an established local arrangement.
ALS qualification:
You can recertify by attending one of the following courses:
- two-day ALS course
- e-ALS
- ALS modular course
- one-day ALS recertification course
- half-day ALS recertification short course.
You are unable to undertake the one-day ALS Recertification or the half-day ALS Recertification Short Course if more than one year has passed since your last course certificate expiry date. The ‘ALS recertification’ course is not recommended if you are not practicing the skills within your current job role.
ARNI qualification:
You may recertify by attending the ARNI Provider course.
EPALS qualification:
You may recertify by attending:
- a full EPALS course
- day two of an EPALS course, (please note, your current EPALS certificate must still be in date to recertify on day two of the course)
You may only recertify on day two of the course if your current EPALS certificate is still be in date. If your certificate is not in date, you will need to attend the one-day course.
NLS qualification:
You may recertify by attending the NLS Provider course.
ILS qualification:
You may recertify by attending the:
- one-day ILS course
- half-day ILS recertification course
You may only attend the half-day recertification course if it is within one year of the expiry date of your most recent ILS certificate. If more than two years have passed since the date of your last ILS certificate, you will need to attend the one-day course.
PILS qualification:
You may recertify by attending the:
- one-day PILS course
- half-day PILS recertification course.
You may only attend the half-day recertification course if it is within one year of the expiry date of your most recent PILS certificate. If more than two years have passed since the date of your last PILS certificate, you will need to attend the one-day course.
ALS, ARNI, EPALS, NLS, ILS, PILS qualifications:
You have one year from the expiry date of your course certificate, which you can recertify your qualification.
For more FAQs visit our online support system
Course Availability
You can book one of the many courses in the UK shown in the list below by contacting the Course Centre organiser. The cost for a Candidate place will vary based on the Course Centre.