BLS vs ACLS
BLS is what everyone in a clinical building should be able to do. ACLS — Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support — is what the team that arrives with the trolley does. BLS keeps the patient perfused with hands, a mask and an AED. ACLS adds rhythm interpretation on a monitor, defibrillation decisions, resuscitation drugs, advanced airways and post-arrest care.
The short answer
BLS is basic resuscitation using hands, a barrier mask and an AED, for adults, children and infants, and everyone clinical should hold it. ACLS is the adult advanced course: rhythm recognition, manual defibrillation, drugs, advanced airways and team leadership, aimed at staff who lead or join a resuscitation team. ACLS does not replace BLS — it is built on top of it and tests it.
| BLS | ACLS | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | All clinical staff, and non-clinical staff in healthcare settings | Doctors, senior nurses, paramedics and anyone who leads or joins a resuscitation team |
| Patient group | Adults, children and infants | Adults |
| Core skills | Compressions, rescue breathing, bag-mask, AED, team basics, choking | Rhythm recognition, manual defibrillation and cardioversion, IV/IO drugs, advanced airway, team leadership |
| Equipment | Pocket mask, bag-mask, AED | Cardiac monitor and defibrillator, drugs, airway adjuncts |
| How it is assessed | Skill stations on a manikin | Skill stations plus a led scenario (the megacode) |
| Prerequisite | None | Competent BLS is assumed and is tested within the course |
| Card validity | Two years | Two years |
If your job does not involve making treatment decisions during a cardiac arrest, BLS is what you need and ACLS would be over-specified. Ward nurses, dental staff, physiotherapists, radiographers, laboratory and pharmacy staff, and students on placement normally hold BLS only.
ACLS becomes relevant when you are expected to be part of the resuscitation team rather than the person who starts CPR and calls for help — emergency and critical care staff, anaesthetics, cardiology, senior ward nurses who lead an arrest call, and paramedics. In most UAE hospitals ACLS is a documented requirement for those roles specifically, not for clinical staff generally. If you are unsure, ask your credentialling team rather than guessing upward; ACLS is a longer and more expensive course to take unnecessarily.
This is not just an administrative sequence. An ACLS course opens with a BLS competency check, and the entire algorithm set assumes uninterrupted high-quality compressions are already happening in the background. Candidates who arrive with rusty basics spend the course fighting the foundations instead of learning the advanced material, and they are the ones who struggle at the megacode.
If your BLS is within a few months of expiry and you have ACLS coming up, renew the BLS first. It costs you a day and it makes the ACLS day substantially easier. See BLS renewal and recertification.
PALS — Paediatric Advanced Life Support — is the paediatric equivalent of ACLS: advanced assessment and management for infants and children, including the recognition of shock and respiratory failure before an arrest happens. It sits alongside ACLS rather than above it. Staff in paediatrics, neonatal units and emergency departments that receive children commonly hold BLS plus PALS, and emergency staff often hold all three.
Safety First Medical Services is an American Heart Association training centre, and we run the full ladder at our Al Reem Island centre: BLS, ACLS and PALS, in classroom and HeartCode blended formats. If you need more than one, tell us when you book — scheduling them in the right order and close together saves a great deal of travel, and means the BLS is fresh when the advanced course tests it.
In practice, yes. ACLS assumes competent basic life support and tests it within the course, and the advanced algorithms all run on top of uninterrupted high-quality compressions. Candidates who take ACLS with rusty BLS find the course much harder than it needs to be.
Considerably. BLS teaches a small number of physical skills to a measured standard. ACLS requires rhythm interpretation, drug knowledge, airway management and the ability to lead a team through a scenario in real time, and it is assessed by a led scenario as well as by skill stations.
No. ACLS is an adult course. The paediatric equivalent is PALS, Paediatric Advanced Life Support. Staff who treat both adults and children commonly hold BLS, ACLS and PALS.
No. They are separate certifications with separate cards and separate two-year cycles, and employers check for both where both are required. Holding ACLS does not exempt you from keeping BLS current.
Yes, and it is a sensible way to do it, provided the BLS comes first. Booking them close together means the basic skills are fresh when ACLS tests them. Tell us when you book and we will sequence the dates for you.
American Heart Association courses on Al Reem Island, in classroom and HeartCode blended formats. Booking more than one? Tell us and we will schedule them in the right order.
Everything on this page is checked against the awarding body and the UAE health authorities. If you need the definitive position on a licensing question, these are the places to look.
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.