I frequently get the question: “Are the 2019 ACLS Guidelines different from the 2020 ACLS Guidelines?”

So here is the answer to the question. They are the same. Most references on this website state that the site is up to date with the 2015-2020 ACLS Guidelines.

The 2015 ACLS guidelines are the most recent published guidelines. Therefore the 2020 ACLS guidelines are actually the 2015 ACLS guidelines.

Every 5 years the American Heart Association has a meeting, and they hammer out new CPR, BLS, ACLS and PALS guidelines. These guidelines are built upon data collected from the previous 5 years.

You can review the new 2015-2020 ACLS guidelines here.

Before these ACLS guidelines are released, the American Heart Association publishes an Executive Summary which is featured in the journal, Circulation.

This Executive Summary provides an overview of the most important changes implemented with the update. It also provides a brief snippet of how the changes apply to BLS, ACLS, and PALS.

2020 ACLS Guidelines=2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 ACLS Guidelines

So now you understand that until early to mid-2021, ACLS providers will be responsible to learn and master the 2015 ACLS protocols.