Almost nobody discovers an expired CPR card on the day it expires. You find out when a manager asks for a copy, when a credentialing portal rejects the upload, when a clinical coordinator sends the email with the subject line that makes your stomach drop. The date passed weeks or months ago and nothing happened until somebody looked.
A lapsed card is a smaller problem than it feels like, but it is a slightly different problem than a renewal you planned for. Here is what to do about it near Fox Lake, Island Lake, and McHenry.
Find the Card and Take a Photo of It
Before anything else, locate the card itself. AHA cards run two years, and the front of the card carries the course name along with the dates. That course name matters more than people realize. A card that says BLS Provider and a card that says Heartsaver CPR AED are two different certifications, and the one your employer wants back is the one you had.
Take a photo of it with your phone. You will want it for two reasons: to confirm which course you are replacing, and because a photo of your card is what you bring with you to class.
Renewal and Provider Are Not the Same Class
This is the fork in the road, and it is where a lapsed card behaves differently from a card you are getting ahead of.
- BLS Renewal, $79, 45 to 60 minutes. The short class. It is built around a current BLS card and requires the HeartCode Part 1 online completion certificate before you arrive.
- BLS Provider, $85, 90 minutes. The full American Heart Association Basic Life Support course. This is the one to book if you have never held a BLS card, or if you are coming in without the online portion finished. It requires nothing from you in advance.
- Heartsaver CPR AED, $95, 2 to 3 hours. The non healthcare course. If your old card said Heartsaver rather than BLS, this is likely the one being asked for.
- Heartsaver First Aid, $95, 1 to 2 hours. First aid on its own, often paired with CPR when an employer asks for both.
Both BLS options are described in full on the BLS page, the non healthcare course is on the Heartsaver CPR AED page, and Heartsaver First Aid has its own page. Every course with its length and price sits together on the class prices page.
Do Not Guess Which One Applies to You
Because the renewal class is built around a current card, an expired one is worth a 30 second conversation rather than a guess at checkout. Booking the short class when you needed the full one is the most common way people end up making the trip twice in a week that had no spare trip in it.
Text a photo of the expired card to 815-690-0664, along with whatever your employer or program wrote down, and you will get a straight answer about which class to book. That is faster than reading requirement language twice and still not being sure.
You Are Not Waiting Weeks for a Seat
The part that usually worries people with a lapsed card is the calendar. It should not. Classes run seven days a week, roughly 9:00am to 6:30pm, with weekend classes on request, and there is no waiting list. You pick a time and that is your time.
Every class ends with a two year AHA card issued at the end of class. You do not finish the session and then wait on a card to arrive before you can answer the email that started all of this. You can send the copy the same day.
If the Deadline Has Already Gone By
Sometimes the card expired and the deadline to produce it is also behind you. Emergency scheduling is $150 and is often available the same day or the next day. It is the option for the situation where a date is not negotiable and there is no room left to plan around it.
When More Than One Person Let It Lapse
Cards tend to lapse in clusters, because a team that got certified together expires together. If three or four people at the same office, clinic, gym, shop, or crew are all looking at the same dead date, recertifying them one at a time is the expensive way to fix it.
Onsite group training comes to you anywhere in northern Illinois, at group rates quoted per group. Everyone is trained in one block, nobody drives anywhere, and everyone leaves with a current card the same day. Start a quote on the onsite group training page.
Where You Would Be Going
Classes are held at 28959 Pilgrims Pass, Lakemoor, IL 60051, a short drive from Fox Lake, Island Lake, and McHenry, and from Volo, Wauconda, Round Lake, Johnsburg, Grayslake, Spring Grove, Crystal Lake, and Woodstock.
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 background on the about page, and students describe their own classes on the testimonials page.
Get It Current Again
Book a time at calendly.com/links4life. If you want the class settled before you pick a slot, text a photo of the expired card to 815-690-0664, or send the details from the contact page.
An expired card is a 45 minute to 90 minute errand once you know which class you are booking. The hard part was finding out it had expired.
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