EPALS (European Paediatric Advanced Life Support) Course

General information

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.

Course structure and programme

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.

UHCW NHS Trust New dates TBC

New dates TBC

Clinical Science Building (CSB) EPALS Course

£550