Healthy Heart

New Designation in EMS Continuing Education Accreditation Achieved American Heart Association Digital Resuscitation Portfolio’s Adaptive Learning to Aid CPR Training Amid Pandemic

By The American Heart Association

The American Heart Association — the world’s leading voluntary organization dedicated to a world of longer, healthier lives — has announced Resuscitation Quality Improvement® (RQI®) and HeartCode® 2025 courses in the Association’s digital resuscitation portfolio have achieved a newly approved accreditation status for emergency medical services (EMS) continuing education. The Commission on Accreditation for Prehospital Continuing Education (CAPCE), a nonprofit body charged with reviewing and accrediting EMS continuing education, instituted an F4 designation in mid-2020, which describes the requirements for classifying a course as adaptive learning and broadens the definition of classroom instruction. With more than 700 F4 course completions to date, the Association becomes the first, and only, CAPCE-accredited continuing education provider to issue course completions with the new designation. EMS professionals in the U.S. must complete continuing education for license and certification renewal every two years with hours originating from a combination of distributed learning or multimedia instructional delivery and classroom or live, online courses, as mandated by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. “Adaptive learning is a truly novel education delivery platform that allows students to interact with a simulated patient or patient care scenario,” said Jay M. Scott, executive director, Commission on Accreditation for Prehospital Continuing Education. “Through integrated testing, critical decisions and case-based actions supplant the need for a traditional post-test. The interactive nature is dynamic for students, and educators can infuse more excitement, sensitivity and specificity into the learning process. The Commission on Accreditation for Prehospital Continuing Education enthusiastically endorses adaptive learning programs for EMS education.” The CAPCE designation signifies a course or program where students’ actions, performance and choices guide the direction of learning activities, including virtual programs using adaptive learning technology and patient simulations. CAPCE now recognizes courses rooted in adaptive learning — a core component in RQI and HeartCode programs — as equivalent to classroom instruction, which helps advance EMS continuing education and CPR training amid the COVID-19 crisis. Launched last October, the Association and Laerdal Medical, a global company providing healthcare solutions, co-developed RQI and HeartCode 2025 courses affording healthcare professionals with the True Adaptive™ learning experience. Artificial intelligence is used to deliver a customized, personalized and efficient approach that is driven by an individual’s specific knowledge level and unique needs. The courses respond to each learner’s competence, actions and performance. RQI and HeartCode 2025 courses verify competence and validate performance in Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support/ Advance Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support. The Association must report course completions to CAPCE monthly to maintain the F4 continuing education designation and accreditation status. For more information about the RQI program, HeartCode portfolio and True Adaptive learning, visit RQI Partners, the partnership between and service provider for the Association and Laerdal Medical, at www.rqipartners. com.