AHA cards last 2 years — and lapses surface at the worst possible moment. Here\u2019s the tracking system that keeps every unit code-ready and survey-ready.
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Run your program against these seven items. Every \u201cwe\u2019re not sure\u201d is a lapse waiting to happen.
AHA 2-year renewal cycle
Lapses are calendar failures, not competence failures — but the consequences land on patient care and survey results.
Hospital policy typically requires current BLS/ACLS certification to participate in code response. When a card lapses unnoticed, a unit can discover mid-emergency that a responder isn’t credentialed — exactly the moment you can’t afford the surprise.
Surveyors review staff competency records, including life-support certification. Gaps in BLS/ACLS documentation show up as findings under the Human Resources standards — and "we didn’t know it expired" is not a defense.
Cards verified at hire expire two years later — long after onboarding is forgotten. Without a central tracker, renewals depend on individual memory, and float or travel staff are the first to fall through.
AHA courses have limited seats. When you only notice expiries a week out, staff can’t get into a class in time — and you’re left covering shifts with a thinner code team.
CertTracker keeps your roster by unit and role, reminds staff and managers at 90, 60, 30, 7, and 1 day out, and exports a survey-ready certification report in one click.
Send us your staff roster — we'll import every certification free within 48 hours.
The BLS/ACLS questions healthcare leaders ask us most.
American Heart Association BLS and ACLS provider cards are valid for 2 years from the issue date. Most employers require renewal before the expiry date — a lapsed card generally means the provider must retake the full course rather than a shorter renewal course, depending on employer policy.
BLS is required for virtually all clinical staff. ACLS is typically required for staff who respond to codes or care for critically ill patients — ICU, emergency department, telemetry, cath lab, and rapid response teams. Requirements vary by facility policy and role, so your tracker should record which certifications each role requires.
Most hospitals remove the staff member from assignments that require the certification — including code-team response — until the card is renewed. Beyond the staffing headache, expired certifications create documentation gaps that surveyors flag. The fix is catching expiries 90 days out, not the week of.
It keeps one roster organized by unit and role, records every card’s issue and expiry date, sends automatic renewal reminders at 90, 60, 30, 7, and 1 day out, and generates a survey-ready report showing every employee’s certification status. Instead of a spreadsheet one educator maintains, the whole organization has live visibility.
Yes. The same system tracks any certification with an expiry date — PALS, NRP, TNCC, CEN, specialty certifications, licenses, and competencies. Each role can be mapped to its required certifications so gaps surface automatically.
One roster for every certification, every expiry, every reminder. Try it free for 14 days — no credit card.
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