EPALS (European Paediatric Advanced Life Support) Course

EPALS launched in 2003. Around 3,500 candidates a year train in EPALS, which uses evidence-based guidelines to ensure healthcare professionals have the most relevant knowledge needed to treat the deteriorating child in respiratory or circulatory failure and cardiac arrest.

This is the ideal course for people who are receiving their EPALS certification for the first time. It is also used as a recertification course. 

Over two days, you’ll enhance your practical skills with simulations and workshops, and broaden your understanding of EPALS with lectures and skill stations. 

During the course, you will develop the knowledge and skills required to:

• Recognise and manage the deteriorating child using a structured ABCDE approach;
• Deliver standardised CPR in children;
• Manage the critically ill child, including those in cardiac arrest,  by working with a multidisciplinary team in an emergency situation;
• Become an effective and confident team member and leader by utilizing non-technical skills.

Who is the course for?

The EPALS course is designed for healthcare professionals who need skills in managing deteriorating patients and cardiac arrests. It is for individuals who use skills in advanced paediatric life support as part of their clinical duties, as well as those who teach on a regular basis. This includes doctors, nurses and paramedics.

All applicants must hold a current clinical appointment. They must also hold, or be in training for, a professional healthcare qualification. Medical students in their final year of training can be accepted as Candidates if this is an established local arrangement.

The Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) Advanced Life Support (ALS) course is relevant to healthcare professionals, including foundation and specialist trainees, nursing staff and allied health professionals.

This curriculum map has been produced by the RCUK to illustrate the potential key capabilities that may be achieved when undertaking or instructing on an ALS course. 

  indicates a capability highly likely to be achieved and ( ) indicates a capability that might be achieved by attending or instructing on the relevant RCUK course. Any capability achieved during a RCUK course will need to be accompanied by appropriate supporting evidence, and this responsibility lies with the individual. 

This list is not exhaustive and other capabilities may be achieved based upon individual experiences. 

Please click on the relevant curriculum or training programme to download how the RCUK ALS course may support the acquisition of key capabilities within specialist learning objectives for career or training progression. 

Royal College of Paediatric and Child Health (RCPCH) Progress+ 

• Level 1
• Level 2
• Level 3

Royal College of Emergency Medicine 2021 Curriculum 

• Curriculum
• Clinical syllabus

Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine 2021 ICM Curriculum

• Curriculum
• High-level learning outcome
• Appendix

Royal College of Anaesthetists - 2021 Anaesthetic Curriculum

• Stage 1
• Stage 2
• Stage 3

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) 

• Scope of professional practice
• Standards of proficiency for registered nurses
• Annex A and B

Pre course preparation:

This is a two day face-to-face course, and it will take place in a Resuscitation Council UK Course Centre. 

All of our Course Centres are approved and certified by Resuscitation Council UK. Courses are run by dedicated and qualified Instructors, who have taken an RCUK Instructor course to guarantee that our courses are uniform and the content remains the same across our Course Centres.

Before your course, you will be registered on our Learning Management System (LMS). Here, you can access course modules, a pre-course multiple choice question (MCQ) paper.

Candidates will receive their course manual one month before the course. Candidates are expected to read the manual in preparation for the course and submit a completed pre-course MCQ paper before the course begins. 

Programme:

Over the two days, candidates will take part in lectures, interactive workshops, skill stations and simulations focusing on deteriorating children with paediatric illnesses, cardiac arrest management and trauma.

Download the full programme

Assessment and certification:

During the course, Candidates will be continuously assessed based on their performance in clinical simulations. You will be expected to show competency in the core skills of the course, including management of the critically ill/injured child, airway management, high quality CPR and defibrillation, and cardiac arrest management.

The course ends with a final assessment, consisting of a simulation and an MCQ paper. 

Candidates who successfully complete the course will be awarded with a Resuscitation Council UK EPALS certificate, which is valid for four years and recognised in healthcare settings in the UK and Europe. 

This course is recognised as continuing professional development (CPD) by the Medical, Dental and Nursing Royal Colleges and Health Care Professional Council. Please contact your registering body for further information.

Recertification

If your course certificate has expired, you can recertify by taking a course within twelve months of your certificate expiry date.

To recertify, you simply need to take the second day of a standard EPALS course. When you contact the Course Centre to book your place on a course, make sure you let them know that you’re looking to recertify.

The first step is to find a Course Centre near you. Below, you’ll find an area where you can search for local courses and find out how to get in touch with the organiser. 

Course fees are decided locally by the Course Centre; Resuscitation Council UK only charges the Course Centre £29.90 per Candidate registration and £33.35 per EPALS manual.
 
Courses often book quickly, so we would advise planning your attendance well in advance of when you want to train.