The decision to certify your employees in CPR (cardiac pulmonary resuscitation) is a positive step toward workplace safety. Not only will it potentially save the life of your employees or customers, it also imparts confidence and skills to them which may help them outside of the workplace and throughout their lives. If the business of your company is medical in nature, such as a clinic or dental office, you may even be legally required to certify your employees in CPR.

Once you’ve made the decision to train your employees in CPR, the next step is to decide which San Diego CPR training company to use. There are many different factors to consider, the most important of which we have boiled down here:

Does your San Diego CPR Training company provide certifications from an accredited and reliable source such as the American Heart Association (AHA), or the American Red Cross? There are dozens of questionable San Diego CPR certification companies out there that promise cheap costs and a short and easy course, but at the conclusion of the course exactly what kind of training and certification do you actually receive. All too often these companies use their own made-up training materials, often stealing material from the AHA, and they are prone to include mistake-laden and out-of-date information. The certification card you receive at the end of these courses is from a non-accredited, unrecognized source, and often not worth the paper it is printed on. When choosing a San Diego CPR certification company, be sure that they use either the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross.

Once I become CPR certified, how long is my certification good for? The majority of CPR certifications are good for one year, however certifications from the American Heart Association are good for two years. In fact, the American Heart Association is the only accredited and recognized CPR provider that has a two year certification. That being said, it is always a good idea to continue to review your CPR training guidebook throughout the tenure of your certification, to refresh your skills and confidence.

Who are my instructors, and what experience do they have? Survival Technologies and Training (Stat CPR) is one of the only San Diego CPR certification companies to utilize only full-time, experienced, currently employed Firefighters, Paramedics and Nurses that work here in San Diego County. Brian Graddon, the founder of Survival Technologies and Training, is actually a full-time San Diego city Firefighter Paramedic himself, and he realized early on in his career the importance of receiving training from those who had actually been there before, and had real-life hands-on experience that they could apply to teaching others. Every one of STAT CPR’s instructors has actually performed CPR in real life situations dozens and dozens of times. When it comes to learning as crucial a skill as CPR, you want to be taught by someone with real life experience, who knows what works, and can answer every question that you have, because they have actually been there, and experienced it.

Where will my San Diego CPR certification take place, can they come to me? Here at Survival Technologies and Training (Stat CPR) we specialize in bringing everything to you, transforming your office space into an interactive training environment, utilizing the latest in CPR equipment and manikins. If you prefer you can also come to our training center to receive your CPR training, however most companies would rather complete their CPR training on their time line, and at a location that they are comfortable with. This also is a benefit in scheduling, as all of the employees will already be at work, and the training can be tailored to fit the day. In fact, we have often extended the lunch hour, and completed CPR training in the middle of the day, stopping briefly for lunch, thereby not interrupting the morning or afternoon routine.

How long will the course take, how much time should I allow for the course? Most CPR certification classes range from 3.5 to 4.5 hours. Much of this is based on the necessity that each and every student receive ample hands-on time with the manikins. At Stat CPR we have an abundance of CPR training equipment, and in this way we are able to shave off all of the wasted time in our courses by having an individual manikin for each and every student, thereby eliminating the need for trading off manikin time among multiple students. We also utilize interactive CPR training techniques, which involve the classroom much more than simply putting in a DVD and pressing play. This also saves valuable time, gets the students more excited about and involved in the class, and results in students that are more confident, have spent more hands-on time in actual CPR simulations, and are much more likely to remember the proper CPR techniques and be more comfortable in applying them when an emergency does arise.

As you can see, there are a variety of factors to consider when choosing a San Diego CPR training company. Some companies may appear to be fast and inexpensive at first blush, but when you consider the fact that their certification lasts only a year, or is based on a non accredited CPR provider utilizing a questionable and out-of-date curriculum, or the instructors are pulled off the street and have no real life experience, you may come to the realization that the real value lies in receiving training with a company with a proven track record, made up of Firefighters, Paramedics, and Nurses that are saving lives on the front lines each and every day, and stand by ready to teach you the CPR skills and techniques so that you can do the same, confidently saving the life of a friend or coworker when an emergency calls you into action.