You go to book a BLS class, see two options at two different prices, and stall out. BLS Provider is $85. BLS Renewal is $79. The names sound like the same thing with a discount attached, and booking the wrong one wastes a trip.
They are not the same class, and the difference is not really the price. It is what you are expected to have finished before you walk in. Here is how to tell which one applies to you, and how to get it scheduled near Grayslake, Wauconda, and Island Lake.
The Short Version
- BLS Provider, $85, 90 minutes. The full American Heart Association Basic Life Support course. Book this if you have never held a BLS card, or if you are coming in without the online portion done.
- BLS Renewal, $79, 45 to 60 minutes. For a current BLS card. Requires the HeartCode Part 1 online completion certificate before you arrive.
- Not sure your requirement even says BLS? Heartsaver CPR AED, $95, 2 to 3 hours, is the course for people who are not healthcare providers.
- Either way, you leave with a card. Every class ends with a two year AHA card issued at the end of class.
Both BLS options are described on the BLS page, and the full list with times is on the class prices page.
Start With What Your Employer or School Wrote Down
Before you compare the two BLS options, make sure BLS is actually what was asked for. The word CPR gets used loosely in hiring packets and clinical program emails, and it covers courses at two different levels.
If the document names BLS, Basic Life Support, or BLS for Healthcare Providers, you are in the right place. That is standard for nursing and CNA students, dental and medical office staff, EMS, therapy and imaging roles, and most clinical placements. If it just says CPR certified with no course named, it may want Heartsaver instead, which is the non healthcare version and is covered on the Heartsaver CPR AED page. Taking BLS when Heartsaver was asked for is not a disaster, but paying provider level attention and sitting a provider level class for a requirement you could have met otherwise is worth avoiding.
Easiest way to settle it: text a photo of the requirement to 815-690-0664 and get told which course it maps to before you book anything.
What BLS Renewal Needs From You First
BLS Renewal is the short option, 45 to 60 minutes, because the coursework has already been handled. It assumes you hold a current BLS card and have completed HeartCode Part 1 online, and it asks you to bring that completion certificate with you.
That part trips people up more than anything else about booking. HeartCode Part 1 is the online module. It is not the certification by itself, and a completion certificate from it is not a card. What it does is clear the way for the shorter in person session where you perform the skills.
So if you are eyeing BLS Renewal because it is the cheaper line item, check two things. Do you have a current BLS card, and do you have the HeartCode Part 1 completion certificate in hand. If either answer is no, BLS Provider at $85 and 90 minutes is the one to book, and you are done in a single visit with nothing to do beforehand.
If Your Card Already Expired or You Cannot Find It
AHA cards run two years, and plenty of people only check the date when a manager asks for a copy. If yours has lapsed, or you cannot locate it, or you are not sure whether what you took two years ago was BLS at all, do not guess your way into the renewal class and hope it sorts itself out at the door.
Call or text 815-690-0664 with what you know, even if that is only the month it expired and the name of the employer who required it. It takes one message to find out which class to book, which is cheaper than showing up for the wrong one.
What the In Person Session Actually Involves
Both BLS options are hands on, because the card reflects skills performed in front of an instructor. You work on manikins, handle an AED trainer, and run through the sequence until it is routine rather than something you are recalling.
Compressions in particular are physical. Rate, depth, and letting the chest come all the way back up between compressions are things you have to feel, which is why an online module alone does not finish the job. Nobody is put on the spot in front of a room, and questions get answered as they come up.
Scheduling It Near Grayslake, Wauconda, and Island Lake
Classes are held at 28959 Pilgrims Pass, Lakemoor, IL 60051, which is a short drive from Grayslake, Wauconda, Island Lake, Volo, Round Lake, Fox Lake, McHenry, Johnsburg, Spring Grove, Crystal Lake, and Woodstock.
Classes run seven days a week, roughly 9:00am to 6:30pm, with weekend classes on request, and there is no waiting list. At 90 minutes for BLS Provider and 45 to 60 minutes for BLS Renewal, this fits before a shift, after one, or on a day off. If a start date or a clinical rotation is days away, emergency scheduling is $150 and is often available the same day or the next day.
If several people at your office or facility need BLS at once, onsite group training comes to you with group rates quoted per group, anywhere in northern Illinois. Start a quote at the onsite group training page.
Classes are taught by Ray Mamerow, a certified American Heart Association instructor with more than 30 years in healthcare who has been teaching CPR since 2010. Links4Life holds a 5.0 star rating across 49 Google reviews. There is more on the about page, and past students describe how their classes went on the testimonials page.
Book Your BLS Class
Pick your time at calendly.com/links4life. If you are still not certain whether you need BLS Provider or BLS Renewal, send a photo of your requirement or your old card to 815-690-0664, or reach out from the contact page, and get it answered before you book.
Either class ends the same way, with a two year card in your hand before you leave.
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