The 2025 AHA guidelines are still the ones on the table in every classroom.

The American Heart Association published the 2025 CPR and ECC guidelines on October 22, 2025, the first full revision since 2020, and released new training materials the same day. Nearly a year later, the classrooms and workplaces that use those materials are still working from the same recommendations. The points that come up in every Heartsaver and BLS room have not changed: one universal chain of survival, updated choking care, and guidance on when younger learners can begin.

The chain is now a single sequence for adult and pediatric, in-hospital and out-of-hospital arrest. Recognize the emergency and call for help. Start CPR with compressions and breaths. Use a defibrillator if one is available. Move to advanced care, post-arrest care, and recovery support. The older split chains are gone. The educational point is the same whether the room is a high-school gym or a plant floor: the first person on scene still has to start.

Choking guidance is also part of the current manuals. For conscious adults and children the sequence alternates five back blows with five abdominal thrusts until the object clears or the person becomes unresponsive. Infant care follows the same back-blow and chest-thrust pattern. The guidelines also address suspected opioid overdose, with the reminder that naloxone should never delay CPR for someone in cardiac arrest. These are the details that get practiced until the hands move without a pause for the book.

Training recommendations reach younger ages than many people assume. The guidelines note that children twelve and older can be taught effective CPR and defibrillation. Pennsylvania schools under Greg Moyer’s Law already operate inside this same family of approved materials. Workplace Heartsaver courses do the same for people who simply need the skill without becoming licensed providers.

Wystepek Ventures, LLC teaches the current AHA Heartsaver and BLS materials. This article is education, not a protocol and not legal advice. Follow your medical director, your employer’s emergency plan, and the manuals in the room. If a workplace, school, or program needs a date on the calendar, the number is (724) 317-4367.