AHA BLS Certification in Harrisburg & Hershey, PA

J.A.S. Training & Safety Solutions runs American Heart Association BLS certification classes in Harrisburg, Hershey and Hummelstown, PA, for healthcare providers, students and first responders. Classes start at $60 per person, run as a single hands-on session with a skills assessment, and your AHA card is valid for two years.

What Is BLS Certification?

BLS stands for Basic Life Support. It is the American Heart Association's professional-level CPR certification, designed for people who respond to cardiac emergencies as part of their job rather than as a bystander.


BLS goes further than a standard CPR class. It covers two-rescuer CPR and team dynamics, bag-mask ventilation, and high-quality compressions measured against AHA performance standards. Most healthcare employers and clinical programs require BLS specifically, not a general CPR card.

Who Needs BLS Certification

If your employer or program asks for "BLS for Healthcare Providers" or an AHA BLS card, this is the class. If your role does not require professional-level certification, the Heartsaver CPR and AED class covers the same lifesaving skills for workplace and community responders.

Nurses and nursing students

Required for clinical placements, employment and licensure renewal at most hospitals and care facilities.

EMTs, paramedics and firefighters

Standard requirement for emergency response roles across Pennsylvania.

Medical, dental and allied health students

Commonly required before clinical rotations begin.

Required by most state dental boards and practice insurers.

Physical and occupational therapists, medical assistants, pharmacists

Increasingly required across outpatient and clinical settings.

Lifeguards, athletic trainers and personal trainers

Where an employer specifies BLS rather than a general CPR card.

What the Class Covers

The course follows official American Heart Association BLS curriculum and is taught hands-on. You practise on adult, child and infant manikins and complete a skills assessment before certification is issued.

• High-quality chest compressions for adults, children and infants
• Rescue breathing and correct ventilation rates
• Two-rescuer CPR and team dynamics
• Bag-mask device technique
• Early AED use, including pad placement on adults and children
• Choking response for responsive and unresponsive patients
• Recognising cardiac arrest and activating the emergency response system

If you work with children, our pediatric CPR and first aid classes cover infant and child technique in more depth.

How the Class Works

1. Book your seat online, or contact us to arrange BLS training at your own facility.

2. Attend the hands-on session at our Harrisburg/Steelton or Hummelstown/Hershey venue.

3. Practise compressions, ventilation and AED use, then complete your skills assessment with the instructor.

4. Receive your American Heart Association BLS card, valid for two years.

What Is BLS Certification?

BLS stands for Basic Life Support. It is the American Heart Association's professional-level CPR certification, designed for people who respond to cardiac emergencies as part of their job rather than as a bystander.


BLS goes further than a standard CPR class. It covers two-rescuer CPR and team dynamics, bag-mask ventilation, and high-quality compressions measured against AHA performance standards. Most healthcare employers and clinical programs require BLS specifically, not a general CPR card.

BLS Renewal & Recertification

AHA BLS certification expires two years from the class date. If your card has expired or is close to expiring, you take the same class again rather than a shortened refresher, which is standard for AHA BLS.

Book your renewal before the expiry date on your card. Many employers treat an expired card as no certification at all, so it is worth booking a few weeks ahead rather than the week it lapses.

What BLS Certification Costs

BLS classes at J.A.S. Training start at $60 per person, and your American Heart Association certification card is included in that price.

What you pay depends on:

• Whether you attend an open class or book onsite training for your team
• Group size, since larger groups booked together cost less per person
• Whether you need BLS alone or a combined CPR, AED and First Aid certification
  

Onsite BLS Training for Healthcare Teams

We deliver BLS certification on site at clinics, care facilities, dental practices and workplaces across Central Pennsylvania, scheduled around shift patterns so you are not pulling staff away for a full day. Groups of any size.

Contact us with your team size and preferred dates and we will build the schedule around you.

Taught by Jeremy Saul

Every class is taught personally by Jeremy Saul, who spent 20 years with the Air National Guard, served as a Captain with the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire, and holds a master's degree in Emergency Management. Classes run in small groups so every student gets real hands-on practice time rather than watching a video.

Class Locations

Harrisburg / Steelton

625 Main Street, Steelton, PA 17113

Hummelstown / Hershey

249 E. Main Street, Hummelstown, PA 17036

Onsite training available throughout Harrisburg, Hershey, Hummelstown, Elizabethtown and Lancaster. See all upcoming CPR and BLS class dates across Central PA.

Who should take this course?

The AHA’s BLS Course is designed for healthcare professionals and other personnel who need to know how to perform CPR and other basic cardiovascular life support skills in a wide variety of in-facility and prehospital settings.

What does this course teach?

• High-quality CPR for adults, children, and infants
• The AHA Chain of Survival, specifically the BLS components
• Important early use of an AED
• Effective ventilations using a barrier device
• Importance of teams in multirescuer resuscitation and performance as an effective team member during multirescuer CPR
• Relief of foreign-body airway obstruction (choking) for adults and infants

     Source: AHA CPR & FirstAid