Take a Class in Honor of National CPR/AED Awareness Week!

The sun is shining and the birds are chirping which means one thing…it’s National CPR/AED (Automated External Defibrillation) Awareness Week! According to the American Heart Association, effective bystander CPR when provided immediately after cardiac arrest, can double a victim’s chance of survival. The American Red Cross offers a wide range of CPR/AED training classes that will prepare you for emergency situations. So, brush up on your disco and get ready to rock chest compressions to “Stayin’ Alive” while learning how to save a life.

The Red Cross not only offers courses on learning life saving skills; it also offers courses on how to teach others these vital skills. Last week, I stopped by a “Lay Responder First Aid and CPR/AED Instructor” class. The people participating not only were already Red Cross certified, but they were becoming certified to teach others. I walked into the room, where a man named Jason was practicing teaching the first steps for Emergency Assistance. I sat down at a big conference table that was so littered with pamphlets, instructor’s binders, and practice mannequins you could hardly see the surface. The first thing that ran through my mind was, “Wow. These people are investing quite a bit of time to learn all this information in order to teach it to others.”

Jason’s fellow participants in the class acted as his students, and he instructed them in tandem with a video. After he was done, the instructor and group gave him feedback on ways to improve and what they thought he nailed. Jason works at St. Augustine College teaching a variety of classes. When I asked him why he was here taking an instructor’s course today, he responded with, “[The college] needed an English speaking instructor for the students, and I was more than willing to become certified.” Kudos to him and his fellow participants for taking on the job of teaching others how to become Red Cross certified.

Sign up for a class this week, and get 15% off the course fee in honor of CPR/AED Awareness Week! Head to www.chicagoredcross.org/takeaclass and enter coupon code: CPRAEDWEEK!

Have you already taken a class? Then tell us, have you ever used your training in your day-to-day life? We’d love to hear any stories you have! Have an excellent CPR/AED Awareness Week!