This form is to be completed by the person seeking consideration to become an American Heart Association Instructor, or for those seeking alignment with Desert Education Solutions, LLC (AHA TC ID: AZ20967).

This is not an application for employment, and information provided on this form will be used solely to evaluate the suitability of the candidate to move forward in the instructor alignment process. Completion of this form does not guarantee alignment with Desert Education Solutions, as there are other requirements to be met, if selected, to continue with the alignment process.

BLS instructors need not be healthcare providers, and they are able to teach BLS Provider and all of the Heartsaver courses (First Aid and CPR/AED for lay rescuers).

ACLS and/or PALS instructors must have a valid healthcare credential in which the provider skills are within the scope of practice of the instructor. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, physicians and physician assistants, nurses and nurse practicioners, advanced-level paramedics, and respiratory therapists.

Becoming an AHA instructor or aligning with a new training center involves a commitment to uphold the AHA polices as specified in the Program Administration Manual (PAM), the Instructor Manuals for the specific disciplines, as well as performing CPR/ECC training according to the specific training center (TC) policies.

We will describe those general policies in detail below.

The following questions are in respect to both AHA and TC policy.

Instructor Commitment: As an AHA Instructor, I agree to teach at least 4 courses in 2 years in accordance with the guidelines of the AHA and maintain a current provider card. I will strengthen and support the Chain of Survival and the mission of the AHA in my community and conduct myself in accordance with the ECC Leadership Code of Conduct.

1.  You will agree that training will be provided in accordance with all AHA polices, specified in both the Program Administration Manual (PAM), and the disciplinary-specific instructor manual. Any training must occur within the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia. It is expressly prohibited to provide training in other U.S. territories, or in any international venue outside this geographic area. 

2. The AHA is an independent entity from any Training Center (TC), Training Site (TS), or Instructor. No Training Center Coordinator (TCC), TC, TS, Instructor, or other affiliated individual (employees, volunteers, or representatives) of a TC, TS, or Instructor may represent himself or herself as an employee of the AHA.

3.  You acknowledge that you are not employed by the American Heart Association (AHA), Desert Education Solutions, LLC, or any other entity in the teaching or other delivery of AHA courses. If teaching on behalf of your organization exclusively, you will typically be covered under the respective employment and worker's compensation policies, and it is the sole responsibility of the Instructor to determine their applicable coverage appurtenant toward providing instruction in these courses. If you are not covered by any business insurance, all professional liability shall be borne solely by the Instructor, as a personal business and/or individual. You shall agree to hold harmless and indemnify Desert Education Solutions, LLC from any insurance claim related to the unrelated actions between Desert Education Solutions, LLC and Instructor, except when contracted specifically to deliver instruction on behalf of the TC directly as a compensated contractor.

If teaching on behalf of Desert Education Solutions, LLC, you will receive a 1099-NEC form that will detail compensation received as an independent contractor for any work agreed-upon, in writing, in advance of the provision of such services.

We strongly recommend procuring professional liability insurance, as teaching under our TC does not confer any coverage for liability, damages, or other torts under law that may occur as a result of teaching or facilitating these training classes. There is an expressed disclaimer that Desert Education Solutions, LLC, and its officers, affiliates, and other designees will not be held liable for any injury claim brought about by participants, instructors, or any other party not listed on the official course roster. 

CPR performance is a physically demanding activity, and as such, it may result in injury to a participant. There is no insurance coverage provided to individual instructors outside of those classes that are specifically contracted for that Instructor to deliver on behalf of Desert Education Solutions, LLC at our dedicated locations.

4.  AHA materials are required to be used for all courses. This includes requiring that all students have the current manual for any course that is taught.

For purposes of this understanding, this means that you cannot store a library of books for use and reclamation after the course, except in limited circumstances, that would be specifically allowed by Desert Education Solutions, LLC.  The library exemption generally only applies to EMS agencies, K-12 schools, and hospitals (with specific requirements)

From the PAM: "Each student must have the current appropriate course textbook readily available for use before, during, and after the course." We are committed to this concept, and individual instructors will be required to demonstrate significant compliance with that directive on a quarterly basis through production of purchase invoices through Worldpoint or other authorized distribution channels.

This rule is non-negotiable, and it will lead toward dealignment if it is found that there is substantial non-compliance with this requirement, and this would be in the sole discretion of DES, LLC as the authorized training center, pursuant to notice being given to correct this deficiency, in which there is allotted ten (10) days to comply with any disciplinary corrective measure issued to the Instructor.

5. You will be required to use a specific web-based system in order to be issued course completion cards. The basic system is provided free of charge, through the TC, but Instructors have the option to upgrade their system with the same vendor, at their sole expense, if so desired. Falsification of any course record is a material breach of both AHA and TC Agreements, and there will likely be a revocation of the ability for that Instructor to deliver AHA classes.

6. Video requirements remain in effect for all AHA courses. Delivery of courses without the required AHA videos may result in disciplinary action, dealignment, or complete revocation of AHA credentials needed to teach classes. We do not tolerate deviations in the video requirement, except in cases of inadvertent, obvious video malfunction, and this will be noted in the course notes, if such a malfunction occurs. The TC shall be promptly notified if there are any video malfunctions in the delivery of an AHA course. Certain advanced classes may have the ability to provide those videos as a part of the pre-course work, and those are approved, except that the certificates of completion must be uploaded accordingly to the system if electing to deliver the course in that format.

7. The TC may request additional supplemental information regarding a specific class from time to time. Information will be provided as requested in a timely fashion, and failure to do so is a breach of TC agreement and policy.

8.  While these restrictions may appear to be constrictive, they are in place from both the AHA and the TC in order to provide compliant courses. Disagreements may arise, but be advised that it is in the sole discretion of the TC to fully adjudicate any disputes that may arise when there are matters of TC policy and/or AHA policy. If such disputes arise, there will need to be written notification provided to the TC before any action may be undertaken, as the AHA will not be involved in any dispute action regarding the TC and instructors. 

9. Use of the AHA "Heart and Torch" logo (including derivatives) is only permitted under specific "AHA Seal Guidelines," and as such, these specific guidelines and the authorized graphics will be provided upon request of the Instructor from the TC directly. You are advised not to use any of the AHA's copyrighted materials, logos, or any other deprecated graphics that are no longer approved for use by the AHA.

10. If any specific clause in this Agreement is found to be illegal or unenforceable under Arizona law, the remaining portions are still held to be in full force and effect notwithstanding.  

11. If aligning with a current instructor card from under one or more disciplines from a previous TC, you will need to renew your card(s) with Desert Education Solutions, LLC. Your previous card(s) will be deactivated. You will not be allowed to issue course completion cards until you have claimed your new instructor card(s).

 

Depending on your response above, it is important to note that we have additional requirements unique to our TC, and these are in place to ensure course quality, adherence to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA - see https://beta.ada.gov/ for more information), and to mitigate risk to the TC.

If you have indicated that you are teaching with an affiliated training site, be aware that you will have two system profiles, one as a training site instructor, the other as an independent instructor.  Training sites are expressly prohibited from issuing cards to instructors, or to students on behalf of a course taught outside of that training site's operations. If you are teaching with the training site, they will be issuing course completion cards for your classes, and this should be done without payment on your behalf to the training site. If you teach a course outside of the training site, you will be filing your own roster and purchasing your cards directly from the TC, not from the training site. We expressly prohibit the re-sale of course completion cards from training site to instructor.

If you indicated that you will be teaching exclusively for your employer or school, we will require specific information related to that institution. DES may create an eCard location for that employer/school at our discretion. You will also be given an independent profile for any courses taught outside that institution, subject to the same stipulations above.

For the other selections, there are specific restrictions on where courses may be taught. Courses are not allowed to be delivered in the instructor's own private residence (or that of any other person on a regular basis). Residential listings of courses is not permitted for public classes. Courses may be delivered at a private residence for mobile trainers providing a non-public class for a family or specific group. All other situations require courses to be taught in ADA-compliant public location that can provide a suitable classroom environment (for example, a hotel conference room or a community center). Classes may be delivered at other private, commercial locations, provided they provide a suitable classroom environment (for example - an office conference room).

For those who are seeking to start a training business, be advised of the following:

1.  Startup costs are significant. The typical cost of basic training equipment will range from $3,000 to $5,000.  You will need to incorporate as an S-Corp or LLC typically, and then purchase business liability insurance as well. Website development and hosting, along with sales promotion will be necessary. Commercial space will require thousands of dollars in deposits, along with utility establishment fees for electric service, internet, gas, etc. A minimum lease commitment of at least 3 years is common, and build-out costs can be extensive, depending on the property. Excellent credit is a must-have for the entrepreneur, as commercial leases will not be extended to those with marginal or poor credit.

Total costs for establishing and operating your business for the first 6 months will exceed $70,000 in most cases.

2.  It takes many years to gain an AHA TC contract (in our case, over seven years) with proven growth and operations. Until then, your business will operate as a training site under another TC's contract. As such, we do require a business plan to be submitted from any instructor who is incorporating and initiating a training site so that we may ascertain whether there may be a potential conflict of interest or liability to the TC's contract.

If this situation applies to your application, please send specific details to tcc@deserteducaton.com for further review. 

The term "alignment" means that you are affiliated with our Training Center.  While the AHA allows for both Primary and Secondary alignments per discipline, it is important to note that this TC has specific policies regarding alignment.  Specifically:

1.  We generally only allow for Primary alignment.  Secondary alignment is only approved under specific circumstances (such as if you teach for an institutional TC and are seeking the ability to teach outside that institution).  If you are seeking a secondary alignment, please explain that in the final notes section at the end of this form.

2.  When you are given Primary alignment, we expressly prohibit seeking or maintaining any Secondary alignment with another TC.  Dealignment will occur if it is determined that you have a Secondary alignment.

3.  If you have multiple disciplines (BLS / ACLS / PALS), you must align as a Primary for each one of those.  We do not allow for split alignments between TCs.

4.  If you choose to dealign with the TC, we will transfer records to your new TC. Once transferred, we do not allow for instructors to return to this TC in the future.

5.  Alignment is a privilege, not a right. We reserve the right to dealign instructors at will, with or without reason, per the discretion of the TCC.

Thank you for persevering through the process. It is critically important that we only accept alignments or new instructors through really prescient quality assurance.

There are many places that might accept just about anyone, but we're much more careful than that, in the interest in providing CPR / ECC courses in accordance with AHA regulations and guidelines.

We offer a considerably cheaper price structure, and as such, we do not encourage alignments or new instructors that are not willing to abide by the commitments in the PAM, or who are unwilling to accept the reasonable requirements of our TC.