Introduction NICU graduates are at risk for the need of CPR outside the hospital. For this reason, it is advocate that parents of high risk neonates, including NICU graduates will undergo CPR courses.

Methods Parents of NICU or PICU admitted newborns undergo a private BLS course which included theoretical and practical training. It was a prospective trial. Every participating completed a pre and post test. 15 months after the course they repeated the test. Test evaluation was blinded.

Results 45 parents participate in the study. 23 females and 22 males. 15 months after the course 51.1% of the parents maintained their BLS skills at the same level that they were immediately after the course. 37.8% improved their skills compared to basic (before taking the course) but not compared to the ones immediately after the course, and 11.1% did not improve compared to their basic skills.

Conclusions A private BLS course improves parental infant-CPR skills 15 months later. But, because of the fact that only half the parents maintained their skills compared to the one reached immediately after the course it is recommended to repeat the course every 15 months approximately.