European Paediatric Advanced Life Support (EPALS)

The European Paediatric Advanced Life Support (EPALS) course is a collaboration between the European Resuscitation Council and the Resuscitation Council (UK). The EPLS course and was launched in 2003 but was rebranded as EPALS in 2016. The course is intended to provide training for multi-disciplinary healthcare professionals in the early recognition of the child in respiratory or circulatory failure and the development of the knowledge and core skills required to prevent further deterioration towards respiratory or cardiorespiratory arrest.

Eligibility criteria

The EPALS course is designed for healthcare professionals who would be expected to apply the skills taught as part of their clinical duties or to teach them on a regular basis. Appropriate participants include doctors, nurses and paramedics working in direct contact with children. All applicants must hold a current clinical appointment and professional healthcare qualification. Medical students in their final year of training can be accepted as candidates.

Awarding body recommended preparation time for this course is at least 4 weeks. If course placement is booked less than 4 weeks from the course date, it is done at the candidate’s/booker’s own risk.

If you are unsure about your eligibility, please contact the course administrator to discuss it further BEFORE registering your application through the booking website, as any fees paid may be non-refundable, once the booking has been made.

Prior qualifications, training or experience required

All applicants must hold a professional healthcare qualification or be in training for a professional healthcare qualification. Paediatric Basic Life Support is recommended.

Method of course delivery

• EPALS course is a two day face-to-face course.  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.

EPALS 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 a Resuscitation Council UK EPALS certificate, which is valid for four years and recognised in healthcare settings in the UK and Europe.

The EPALS course is recognised for up to 10 professional development (CPD) points.