Get Your Adult CPR & AED Certification Online

In the vast majority of cases, you won’t become “AED certified” without also learning CPR. For this reason, most people earn their CPR/AED certification together. 

Becoming CPR and AED certified means that you have gone through the process of learning CPR and AED skills and you have passed an exam to verify your knowledge. 

In a practical sense, if someone suffers a cardiac event, you will first perform CPR to sustain life until an AED device arrives. The AED is then used to buy more time until advanced professional help arrives.

An AED – or automated external defibrillator – is a device that is used to deliver an electrical shock to the heart in the case of cardiac arrest. While this sort of electrical charge is exactly what the heart needs when it has stopped beating, it can be dangerous to someone who hasn’t experienced a cardiac event, which is why it’s important to learn when and how to use this powerful piece of equipment. 

In addition to learning how to use an AED in your CPR and AED certification program, you’ll be relieved to know that all AED devices are equipped with an audio or visual program that tells you exactly what to do in case you need to use the device in an emergency.

Technically, yes, an AED can be used on a child. 

However, there are special considerations to be aware of when using an AED device on an infant or child, so you should only do so if you've taken the CPR/AED program that applies to all age groups: adults, children, and infants. 

Be sure to check with your employer regarding which training and certification is required for your job. Then, also consider your personal life and whether you would want to obtain the proper skills and knowledge needed to use CPR or an AED on a child or infant. 

You can browse all of our CPR and AED certification programs here.

CPR and AED are really two steps of a three-step process of saving someone’s life, so they go hand-in-hand. In the event that someone in your vicinity suffers cardiac arrest, you have three important steps to follow: 

CPR is a process you can do immediately to help circulate a small amount of blood flow and sustain life. If your workplace has an AED device, it may not be within reach. So while you perform CPR, someone else can fetch the AED. 
 
Once the AED arrives, the device can be used to try to stimulate the heart to pump a larger amount of blood throughout the body. This process can be enough to help the victim survive until medical professionals arrive on the scene. 

An adult CPR course teaches you how to perform CPR – cardiopulmonary resuscitation – on an adult. 

Our adult CPR & AED online certification programs prepare you for the most common – and most life-threatening – situations you may encounter in your work and in your day-to-day life. Adult CPR training educates you on how to handle emergency situations including heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest, and choking. 

In order to make the course shorter and more efficient, this program is limited to teaching CPR for adults so you can focus only on the skills relevant to your job.

If your job only requires you to be around adults, this program may be the right fit for you. You will also learn how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) if one is available.