The answer is NO! (Yes I realize that all caps means shouting and is an internet no-no.) However, I feel strongly that a CPR and First Aid class is only as good as the instructor makes it. Instructors have a wide range in latitude on how to conduct training. They may simply drone on monotonously, regurgitating the curriculum from a book, or they may simply pop in some videos and baby sit them. Or they can develop an innovative PowerPoint presentation from scratch that combines education and pop culture into an educating and entertaining presentation. Your CPR class does not have to be the same year after year. A change may be what your company needs to energize your employees about safety training. If your employees groan at the prospect of CPR or First Aid training it is time for a change. We bring relevant Emergency Medical experience to the classes we teach.
Is that important? Yes it is. Providing emergency care outside of the pristine hospital setting in homes and workplaces is what we do. It is where you or your employees will encounter an emergency and it is what we see everyday. It does not take a whole lot of brain power to teach or learn CPR and First Aid (Yes I realize I am insulting myself with that statement) but it is true. There are many people out there teaching right now that have no relevant medical experience at all. They took a class and saw a business opportunity. All of our instructors are firefighters and paramedics.
We share a passion for emergency medicine and community safety. Have you ever asked yourself why there are so few fires today compared to decades ago? It is because firefighters have tried to make themselves unnecessary through aggressive public education, inspections, and campaigning for building and product safety codes such as smoke detectors and residential sprinklers. It would be in the best interest of a firefighter's job security to have more fires not less, but that is not how we think. We bring this same passion for community safety to the classes we teach, including health and wellness and how to recognize a problem before CPR is needed. As person with relevant medical experience I can tell you that once CPR is need the outcome is rarely ever good. It make sense to teach the public how to identify medical problems and get help before CPR is needed, however, this is not covered in traditional CPR classes they focus on treating cardiac arrest when the out of hospital survival rate is less then 7%. Where is the sense in that? Conditions like myocardial infarction, stroke, and sepsis can be identfied by a lay provider and help summoned before CPR is needed.