The Lifesavers Link: June 2025 Edition

Marisol Escamilla, RN
Jun 24
3 min read

Bringing Monthly Updates and Guidance to RGV CPR Aligned Instructors

Guess Who’s Back? 👋📬

It’s been a busy few months at RGV CPR, but I’m excited to say—we’re back in action with your monthly Lifesavers Link newsletter! Thank you for your patience as we settled into our new space and worked behind the scenes to improve how we support you. I’m looking forward to reconnecting and keeping you informed, equipped, and inspired as we continue this lifesaving journey together!

Coming Soon: New 2025 AHA Guidelines Course Materials 📚🫀🚨

Big news from the American Heart Association! The official 2025 AHA Guidelines for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) will be released on October 22, 2025.

With the release of the 2025 AHA Guidelines this October, all instructors will be required to complete an online Instructor Update course for each discipline they teach (BLS, ACLS, PALS, Heartsaver, etc.) before they can continue training and certifying students. In addition, new course materials will be mandatory starting March 1, 2026, and will need to be purchased in advance of that date.

🚨 IMPORTANT: Instructors who fail to complete the required updates by the deadline may be removed from alignment with RGV CPR and will no longer be authorized to teach under our Training Center. It is essential that you stay alert for emails from both RGV CPR and the AHA throughout 2025.

📎 Tip: Visit the 2025 Guidelines Communications page on Atlas (log-in required) for the latest information. We’ll continue to keep you posted as more details become available. Thank you for being a vital part of this lifesaving mission! 💪🌎❤️

Important Update: AHA eCard Price Increase & Purchasing Guidelines 💳📈📦

The American Heart Association is increasing its eCard prices effective July 1, 2025, and as an authorized Training Center, RGV CPR must adjust our pricing accordingly. Additionally, we will be changing the structure on how eCards are purchased.

🔹 BLS eCards will increase to $7.25 and must be purchased in bundles of 5.

🔹Heartsaver K-12 eCards will increase to $7.00 each and will now include a digital copy of the Heartsaver Student Workbook to ensure that students have the required AHA course materials. These must also be purchased in bundles of 5.

🔹 Heartsaver eCards will increase to $25.00 each and will now include a digital copy of the Heartsaver Student Workbook, to ensure students have the required AHA course Materials. These must be purchased in bundles of 2.

When instructors order Heartsaver eCards, an equal amount of access codes for the Heartsaver Student Workbooks will be assigned to instructors via email for distribution to their students. Included in this email will be step-by-step instructions on how you can distribute the access codes to your students and how they are to activate them.

🚨 🚨For ACLS and PALS Instructors: Please Read 🚨 🚨

RGV CPR currently operates as a Training Site under the Vitali Partners Training Center for ACLS and PALS. Due to restructuring at Vitali, we are in the process of securing a new ACLS and PALS Training Center, with the transition expected to take place sometime in August. As a result, ACLS and PALS eCard pricing may be affected.

What You Should Do:We recommend that you use your current inventory of ACLS and PALS eCards and limit new orders to only what’s necessary, as reimbursement timelines for unused cards during the transition are not guaranteed.

We’ll continue to keep you updated throughout these changes. Thank you for your continued dedication to delivering high-quality, lifesaving instruction! ❤️🫀📚

How to Contact Me

📞 Have a Question? Need Assistance?

For urgent matters, contact me at my direct number at (956) 332-2928. Keep in mind that I teach classes almost daily. Therefore, if you do not reach me by phone, I recommend texting me instead of leaving a voice mail message and I will respond as soon as I can.

For non-urgent matters, email me at marisol@rgvcpr.com, and I will reply by the end of the day.