Class Times - How long to teach each class-equipment-sharing
Scheduling time to teach a class.
If you are teaching BLS with First Aid, yes, it will probably go 8 hours. If you are only teaching BLS/CPR/AED, then the class should be completed in about 5-hours. The first aid portion of all of the courses adds about 2.5 -3 hours to the normal CPR course. Below is a good breakdown of how long these classes usually run in a classroom setting with each student on their own manikin (1:1 ratio):
- BLS course - 5 hours
- BLS + First Aid - 8 hours
- CPR for All ages - 3.5 hours
- CPR + First Aid for all ages - 6.5 hours
- Adult CPR - 2 hours
- Adult CPR + First Aid - 4 hours
When you have a lot of students in a class, the time changes with the amount of student-to-equipment ratios. The allowed equipment-sharing ratio is 1:3 (one set of equipment can be shared with up to 3 other students).
When you don't have a set of equipment for each student, equipment sharing is needed. It's important to also consider the additional time that needs to be allowed for sharing equipment and the time to clean and decontaminate between students
You can usually plan for an additional 20 minutes for each switch that happens. This time should be considered when telling students the length of time that they will be in training. You need the additional time so you can switch out students to perform their skills. After each student performs their skills on a manikin, there should be cleaning and decontamination completed before another student performs their skills on the same manikin. The decontamination process cannot be skipped, it needs to be done each time a switch happens on the manikins and equipment. This includes the cleaning of the manikins, bag valve masks, AED trainers, pads, etc.
Note that there are also student-to-instructor ratios to be cautious of as well. Click here to find out more.
If you have any other questions, please reach out to our instructor help department at 877-630-1310. Or schedule a time to talk to our instructor team experts through this calendar link.