AHA Pediatric Emergency Assessment, Recognition and Stabilization (PEARS)
The American Heart Association’s PEARS Course helps healthcare providers develop the knowledge and skills needed for emergency evaluation and treatment of seriously ill infants and children.
PEARS teaches providers how to recognize respiratory distress, shock and cardiac arrest and how to provide appropriate lifesaving interventions within the initial minutes of response until the child is transferred to an advanced life support provider. It also emphasizes the resuscitation team concept. The goal of the PEARS Course is to improve the quality of care provided to seriously ill or injured infants and children, resulting in improved outcomes.
Upon successful completion of the course, students receive a PEARS provider card that is valid for two years. The course is available only in English.
Primary Audience: PEARS is for healthcare providers such as emergency medical technicians (EMTs), medical and surgical nurses, school nurses and any other healthcare providers who see critically ill infants and children infrequently.