• Blue heartbeat image by Andrew Brown from Fotolia.com
  
  Becoming a Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Instructor is an excellent way to give back to your community. The mission of the American Heart Association (AHA) is to help save lives, and teaching CPR and CPR instruction is a vital part of that initiative.
  
  

Determine What You Want to Teach

• CPR instructors can choose from several different specializations: Heartsaver Instructor, Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) Instructor, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Instructor or Basic Life Systems (BLS) Instructor. Students are required to take the basic class of the selected specialization.
  
  

Locate a Training Center in Your Area

• Contact the local AHA Training Center in your area and see if it's hiring instructors or offering instructor training. You can also contact the local Red Cross office and National Safety Council.
  
  

Take the Core Instructor Course

• The Core Instructor Course can be taken three different ways: online, using the CD instruction program and in a traditional classroom setting. The options may vary with each training center, but all three methods cover basic first aid and life support, child/infant CPR and first aid, basic principles of teaching, instructor organization, Automated External Defibrillator (AED) simulator demonstration, adult CPR/first aid, CPR/AED/First aid instructor course, pet first aid and emergency response.
  
  

Take the CPR Instructor Course

• This course covers techniques for teaching CPR to others. It is a one- to three-day course, depending on your chosen specialization.
  
  

Demonstrate Your Skills

• Your first class will be monitored and the results sent to the training center coordinator. She will either approve the completion of training or request part of the training be repeated.