How to Renew CPR Certification

CPR certification renewal is a vital part of keeping your skills up to date. To remain current, you must renew your CPR certification every two years. The good news is that you can complete your CPR renewal online, while still ensuring that your credentials remain valid and that your life-saving skills remain fresh.

Before we take a look at how to renew your CPR certification, let’s review why you got certified in the first place.

Why Get CPR Certified?

There are many reasons someone may want to get CPR certified. For some, it’s an employment requirement. Many jobs require CPR certification including:

Police officers
Airline employees
Healthcare providers
Doctors
Nurses
Athletic trainers
Lifeguards
Security personnel

Generally, these certifications are in addition to any specialized training that employees will receive before they start their jobs.

Additionally, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandates CPR and first aid certification for a number of industries, including logging, electrical power, and construction.

In many other cases, people will choose to become CPR certified without motivation from their employers. Teachers, babysitters, parents, office workers, church employees, and others may also want to obtain a CPR certification card. This CPR card shows employers, colleagues, and clients that the individual is ready to, willing to, and qualified to intervene in the event of an emergency.

What Happens If Your CPR Certification Expires?

Technically, you do not need a CPR certification to perform CPR and save a life. You simply need to know how to do it or be willing and able to follow specific instructions from a certified medical professional. However, if your job requires CPR, then you must obtain your certification and keep it current.

Certifications are valid for 2 years. If your certification expires while you’re still required to hold a CPR card, then you will need to renew your certification or be recertified altogether. Renewal is faster and easier than re-certification, but you only have a 6-month window to renew. If your CPR certification expired over 6 months ago, you will need to start all over with a full CPR course.

Do You Have to Renew Your CPR Certification?

Again, your employment needs may have changed and you may no longer be required to provide proof of certification, but we certainly recommend keeping your CPR certification up to date.

There are many good reasons to renew your certification, even if you are not required to do so. For one thing, the recommended method of performing effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation may have changed since the last time you completed a certification class.

In our classes, for example, we now teach CAB(D) which stands for Circulation, Airway, Breathing, and Defibrillation. This new method is in response to the publication of many studies focusing on cardiac arrest survival rates and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC), which often includes the use of a defibrillator.

Previously, the standard focused on the “ABC’s of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.” This stands for “Airway, Breathing, and Circulation.” The focus had been on opening the victim’s airway and providing oxygen. Now, the new focus for CPR is on providing quality chest compressions and early defibrillation. This new method has been shown to increase survival rates.

Renewal (or recertification) is the best way to stay up to date on the current medical best practices.

How Long Does It Take to Renew CPR Certification?

As we have discussed in our blog, “the most popular classroom-based renewal course for CPR is the American Heart Association CPR Renewal. Typically, the class takes about 5.5 hours to complete. The curriculum is very similar to the full course which usually takes about 9 hours.” This means that renewal can be time-consuming, and it can sometimes be challenging to locate a renewal class in your area.

The good news, as we said earlier, is that it is now possible to renew your CPR certification online.

Why Renew Online?

There are two main reasons to renew your CPR certification online: time and convenience. You can renew your certification online in minutes instead of hours in a classroom. Online education is the fastest and most convenient way to learn. Online classes can be taken at any time, and on any type of computer or smart device.

Online classes can be taken from home, from the office, or from pretty much anywhere. This means that those in rural areas or small towns have the same access to CPR renewals as those who are in big cities.

In addition to being fast and convenient, online CPR renewal allows you to work at your own pace. Online classes cover the exact same material as live instructor classes. The same 25-question, multiple-choice test is required for accredited certification.

Is an Online CPR Certification Valid?

Not only are online CPR certification renewals valid, but they are steadily growing in popularity. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, online education has taken over as the most popular method for CPR Renewal.

As we explained on our website, the curriculum for our online CPR certification renewal courses is the same as the courses given in a classroom. They cover the same subjects and material. Most students report that they actually learn more online than they did in a classroom. This is most likely because online classes allow you to learn at your own pace.