BLS Certificate
When a UAE hospital, clinic or licensing officer asks for your “BLS certificate”, they almost always mean the American Heart Association BLS Provider eCard. It is the proof that you completed AHA BLS training and passed the hands-on skills test, and it is the document that gets checked at hiring, at credentialling and at licence renewal.
In short
The AHA BLS Provider eCard is a digital certificate issued by an AHA training centre after you pass a BLS course. It is valid for two years, expiring at the end of the month shown, and anyone can verify it on the AHA eCard website using its unique code.
The AHA issues course completion cards electronically. After your BLS course the training centre issues your BLS Provider eCard, and you receive an email to claim it. You can then view, download and print it, and share it with an employer. There is no separate paper certificate you need to wait for.
Two years. The card expires at the end of the month shown on it, not on the exact day. There is no grace period for practice, so plan your BLS renewal a month or two before the date. Most employers and the health regulators treat an expired card as no card.
A credentialling officer enters the eCard code on the AHA eCard site and sees whether the card is genuine and current. It takes less than a minute, which is exactly why UAE employers prefer AHA certification: it cannot easily be faked. The eCard site is listed in the sources below.
Because the card is digital, you can retrieve it from the AHA eCard site with the email address you registered with. If you trained with us and cannot find it, contact us and we will help.
A “BLS certificate” from a fully online course with no hands-on skills check is not an AHA BLS Provider card, and employers in the UAE regularly reject them. The legitimate way to do most of the learning online is HeartCode blended BLS, which still ends with an in-person skills session. For how the certificate is earned, see the BLS exam and skills test, and for the licensing side, BLS for DOH, DHA and MOH licensing.
Other life support and first aid courses: ACLS Course · PALS Course · First Aid Course · Training calendar
AHA BLS Provider cards are issued as eCards. You can download and print them, but the digital card is the official record.
Two years, expiring at the end of the month shown on the card.
Enter the eCard code on the American Heart Association eCard website to confirm the card is genuine and current.
Employers regularly reject BLS certificates that did not include a hands-on skills test. AHA BLS always includes one.
Contact the training centre that issued it. Registering with the name on your passport or licence avoids the problem.
Safety First Medical Services is an American Heart Association training centre on Al Reem Island. Classroom BLS, HeartCode blended BLS and on-site group BLS training, with a two-year AHA BLS Provider eCard on completion.
See BLS dates and register HeartCode BLS course page Group booking enquiry
What we teach follows the awarding body and the UAE health authorities. For the definitive position on a course or licensing question, these are the places to check.
Last reviewed by the training team at Safety First Medical Services, an American Heart Association training centre at Addax Office Tower, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi. Call +971 55 761 9841 or email training@safetyfirstmed.ae.