AHA eCard verification: how to check BLS and ACLS cards for agency and travel clinicians

A travel nurse is due on a hospital unit on Monday, and the file holds a phone screenshot of a BLS card. On Friday the coordinator types the code into the American Heart Association's employer lookup, and the lookup does not find it. The scenario is invented, and the card in it may well be genuine.

AHA eCard verification is the American Heart Association's own route for an employer to validate one of its cards, and the facility's policy or the client contract decides whether a placement needs it. The Association's pages explain several ways a genuine card can fail the lookup.

How AHA eCard verification works on the employer lookup

The Association gives two routes: "To verify an eCard, go to www.heart.org/CPR/mycards and enter the eCard code or scan the QR code on the student eCard." [1] The eCards page has a separate Employer tab, and as read on November 11, 2026, it asks only for codes: "Enter up to 20 eCards codes to verify. Enter one code per line." [2] The Association describes the result in one sentence: "The next page will show the eCard Status of the provided code(s)." [3] The pages read for this guide describe that screen no further.

The Association's Course Card Reference Guide, a quality control tool that states it is not a policy document, says the code lets an employer confirm that a card was issued by a valid Training Center and an instructor aligned with that Training Center. It also encourages employers to validate eCards, including cards shown as an image on a phone, which covers the screenshot above [4].

For American Heart Association cards, BLS certification verification is a check on a course completion card. The Association says it "does not certify people in CPR, first aid, or advanced cardiovascular life support skills" [5]. What it verifies is that the person could perform the skills satisfactorily when they completed training.

A genuine card can fail the lookup for reasons on the issuer's side

The Association's own pages describe four reasons a genuine card may not verify.

• The clinician has not claimed it. "The student must have claimed their eCard in order for an employer to view it." [3] Ask the clinician to claim it, then run the code again.
• It has not been issued yet. "Training Centers must issue course completion cards within 20 business days of successful course completion." [5] A clinician who renewed two weeks before an assignment may have nothing to verify yet.
• The code contains letters. A standard code is 12 digits, starting with the two-digit year of issue [4]. "If the code contains both numbers and letters, it may have been issued by an AHA RQI program. These can be verified at heart.org/RQIverify." [2]
• The card was issued outside the US. For codes it cannot find, the Association points to "RQI Card verification or CPRverify verification, for cards outside the U.S." [1]

Two details on a genuine card can look wrong. On a current BLS Provider or ACLS Provider eCard, a clinician whose skills session was self-guided has CPR Verification Station printed in the instructor field, which the Reference Guide treats as legitimate. Two designs are also in circulation: current designs carry issue dates from October 22, 2025, and the previous BLS Provider design could be issued until February 28, 2026 and is not valid after February 28, 2028 [4].

If none of this explains the result, go to the issuer: "To check the validity of an American Heart Association course completion card, contact the Training Center that issued the card. The Training Center's information can be found on the card." [5]

The renew by date runs to the end of a month, and RQI dates can run longer

The date on an American Heart Association eCard is printed as Renew By [4], and the Association's website also calls it the expiration date [1]. The rule behind it: "Course completion cards are valid for two years through the end of the month during which the course completion card was issued." [5] In an invented example, a card issued on any day in March 2025 runs to the end of March 2027.

RQI eCredentials can run longer. Their recommended renewal dates run from the end of the calendar quarter in which the clinician achieved compliance, so a date can extend beyond two years by up to three months [4]. A rule that rejects any renewal date more than 24 months after issue would reject valid RQI cards.

An ACLS card does not stand in for BLS: "No, BLS is not included in AHA's ACLS courses." [5]

None of the sources read for this guide sets a grace period after the renew by date. A start date that slips can carry a card past its date before the clinician arrives, the same timing problem that credentialing cost per fill on a travel placement traces for primary source verifications.

Other issuers run their own lookups, and the facility decides which cards count

The American Red Cross runs its own lookup, which accepts a certificate ID or the cardholder's details [6]. Each certification, it says, "includes a unique ID and a QR code that shows you meet certain requirements and allows employers to easily confirm your certificate is valid" [6]. It asks people to allow 12 hours after a course is submitted before searching [6], and its CPR certification "lasts 2 years" [7]. Its online-only BLS option is labeled "Demonstration of skill proficiency is NOT available" and leads to a "2-year Red Cross Certificate of Completion" that "may not meet workplace requirements" [8].

This guide did not research issuers other than the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross. Which issuers a placement accepts is set by the facility's policy and the client contract. The federal rules read for this guide, for nursing homes and ambulatory surgical centers, require personnel who can provide CPR and name no issuer [9][10].

The one explicit healthcare regulator source on training format found for this guide is nursing home surveyor guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, at F678 in Appendix PP of the State Operations Manual, revision 232, issued July 23, 2025: "Staff must maintain current CPR certification for Healthcare Providers through a CPR provider whose training includes a hands-on session either in a physical or virtual instructor-led setting in accordance with accepted national standards." [11] The earlier revision 225, issued August 8, 2024, had said "online-only certification is not acceptable". Revision 232, the current revision as read on November 11, 2026, does not carry that sentence, and its key elements of noncompliance at F678 still name "hands-on practice and in-person skills assessment". The guidance covers long term care facilities. Elsewhere the facility's policy decides, and where facility-specific credentialing requirements come from explains why those policies differ.

Joint Commission staffing measures score a missing or expired competency document as No

The Joint Commission wording that names these cards sits in a Standards FAQ under its Disease Specific Care manual, last updated November 1, 2021. It says primary source verification "is not required for organizational requirements such as" CPR, ACLS and PALS [12]. The current cross-manual FAQ, which covers hospitals among other settings and was last updated April 22, 2026, ties primary source verification to "a valid license, certification or registration to practice a profession when required by law or regulation" [13]. No Hospital-scope sentence naming CPR or ACLS turned up.

For staffing firms with Joint Commission certification, the Health Care Staffing Services measures are where the card counts. Version 2026B, in force as read on November 11, 2026 and applicable through December 31, 2026, lists proof of current CPR training, specific to the discipline, among the forms competency documentation may take, and instructs: "If documentation of employee competency is missing from the personnel file or expired, select 'No.'" [14] Credentials must also match the position description [15].

None of the Joint Commission material read for this guide calls the eCard lookup primary source verification.

What an AHA eCard verification record should show

For license verification, the cross-manual FAQ says the documentation must include "the date the verification was conducted, who conducted the verification, what was specifically verified and the results of the verification", and that a copy of a license presented in place of that evidence "does not meet the intent of the requirement" [13]. It is written about licenses and says nothing about life support cards. As a model for an eCard check it works: the screenshot is the clinician's copy, and the lookup is your evidence. For each card, record the lookup date, who ran it, the issuer, course and code, the status returned and the renew by date.

None of the sources read for this guide puts a number on fake or altered BLS or ACLS cards. The reasons to record every lookup are the Association's request that employers validate and what a surveyor asks you to produce in a credentials file review. For where the card sits beside licenses, see what a complete credentialing file contains.

Where Credentially fits around the eCard check

The lookup on the issuer's site is a step your credentialing team runs, and Credentially handles the file around it. As documents arrive, Credentially reads each file, captures the relevant details and matches it to the requirement it satisfies, so your team sees what is complete and what needs review.

Credentially also monitors document expirations in the background and alerts your team when something changes or needs action. Each check is recorded as it happens, and the compliance features page shows how expirations are tracked after AHA eCard verification.

Health Carousel, a US staffing agency, brought license and credential updates in-house on Credentially. Brittany, its Director of Credentialing, described the work before Credentially: "Most of my work became admin, where I was hopping around from web page to web page, to server and files and saving everything in different places." [16]

Pull the last ten placements where a BLS or ACLS card held up a start and note which cause above applied. Then book a demo with those files to see how each card and its renew by date is tracked once your team has completed AHA eCard verification.

Frequently asked questions

How does an employer verify an AHA eCard?

On www.heart.org/CPR/mycards, the employer opens the Employer tab, enters up to 20 eCard codes, one per line, and selects Verify. The American Heart Association says the next page shows "the eCard Status of the provided code(s)". Scanning the QR code on the eCard is the other route [1][3].

Why does an AHA eCard not show up for a clinician who just took the course?

The clinician may not have claimed the eCard yet, and the American Heart Association says an employer cannot view it until they do. Training Centers also have up to 20 business days to issue cards. Codes containing letters are verified on a separate RQI site, and the issuing Training Center is the fallback [2][3][5].

How long is an AHA BLS or ACLS card valid?

American Heart Association course completion cards, including BLS and ACLS, are valid for two years through the end of the month of issue, so the renew by date shows only a month and year. RQI eCredentials can run up to three months longer. None of the sources read for this guide sets a grace period [1][4][5].

Is an online-only BLS card acceptable for a healthcare placement?

The facility's policy and the client contract decide. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services nursing home surveyor guidance, revision 232, calls for "a hands-on session either in a physical or virtual instructor-led setting", and its noncompliance list names "in-person skills assessment". The American Heart Association requires a hands-on skills session for courses with CPR skills, and the Red Cross says its online-only certificate "may not meet workplace requirements" [5][8][11].

References

1. American Heart Association, "Course Card Information", undated, accessed November 11, 2026, https://cpr.heart.org/en/resources/course-card-information
2. American Heart Association, "AHA eCards verification", eCards search page, undated, accessed November 11, 2026, https://ecards.heart.org/student/myecards
3. American Heart Association, "How to Manage your AHA eCard", undated, accessed November 11, 2026, https://cpr.heart.org/en/resources/faqs/how-to-claim-and-view-your-aha-ecard
4. American Heart Association, "Emergency Cardiovascular Care Course Card Reference Guide", October 2026, https://cpr.heart.org/en/-/media/CPR-Files/2025-documents-for-cpr-heart-edits-posting/Resources/KJ1976_CCRG_1026SECURED-(1).pdf?sc_lang=en
5. American Heart Association, "FAQs about AHA Training", undated, accessed November 11, 2026, https://cpr.heart.org/en/resources/faqs/course-faqs
6. American Red Cross, "Find My Certificate", undated, accessed November 11, 2026, https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/digital-certificate
7. American Red Cross, "CPR Renewal & Recertification", undated, accessed November 11, 2026, https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/cpr/cpr-training/cpr-renewal
8. American Red Cross, "BLS Training: For Healthcare & Public Safety", undated, accessed November 11, 2026, https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/bls
9. eCFR, 42 CFR 483.24(a)(3), Title 42 current as of November 9, 2026, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-483.24
10. eCFR, 42 CFR 416.44, Title 42 current as of November 9, 2026, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-416.44
11. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, State Operations Manual, Appendix PP, "Guidance to Surveyors for Long Term Care Facilities", Rev. 232, issued July 23, 2025, F678 (section marked Rev. 229, issued April 25, 2025), accessed November 11, 2026, https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Guidance/Manuals/downloads/som107ap_pp_guidelines_ltcf.pdf. The earlier Rev. 225, issued August 8, 2024, was read the same day at https://www.cms.gov/medicare/provider-enrollment-and-certification/guidanceforlawsandregulations/downloads/appendix-pp-state-operations-manual.pdf
12. The Joint Commission, Standards FAQ, Primary Source Verification: Definition/Requirements, Disease Specific Care manual, first published April 11, 2016, last updated November 1, 2021, https://www.jointcommission.org/en-us/knowledge-library/support-center/standards-interpretation/standards-faqs/000001366
13. The Joint Commission, Standards FAQ, Verification: Primary Source Verification, Definition, first published April 11, 2016, last updated April 22, 2026, https://www.jointcommission.org/en-us/knowledge-library/support-center/standards-interpretation/standards-faqs/000001472
14. The Joint Commission, Health Care Staffing Services Measures, version 2026B, data element "Competency", posted January 30, 2026, https://manual.jointcommission.org/releases/HCSS2026B/DataElem0179.html
15. The Joint Commission, Health Care Staffing Services Measures, version 2026B, data element "Job Appropriate Credentials", posted January 30, 2026, https://manual.jointcommission.org/releases/HCSS2026B/DataElem0185.html
16. Credentially, "Case Study: Health Carousel", customer case study, accessed November 11, 2026, /blogs/case-study-health-carousel