BS: Online vs. warm body CPR course?

Subject: BS: Oneline vs. warm body CPR course?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 May 09 - 01:59 PM

The Red Cross wants $45 for each class, CPR and First Aid. I can do them both online for $20. But - will I get what I pay for? Both say they give you certificates... is there a compelling reason not to do these kinds of learning online? It feels wrong to me...

Subject: RE: BS: Oneline vs. warm body CPR course?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 May 09 - 02:13 PM

I think that the first time, you need to take CPR and First Aid in person - you'll learn a lot more. The quality of Red Cross certified classes is usually quite good, and the classes are fun.

What I object to, is the constant need for renewal of certification. Many Red Cross certificates have to be renewed every year. I wouldn't mind an annual online update, but most renewals require taking the entire course again. They get boring after the second time. I gave up and let my water safety and first aid certificates lapse in the 1970's (I didn't need them for employment any more, but it would have helped with Scouts), although I've taken CPR since then.

There was a time when my wife the chiropractor had to get annual CPR certification, and I went with her once or twice. Now that requirement has been dropped, so we don't go.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Online vs. warm body CPR course?
From: MarkS
Date: 28 May 09 - 03:26 PM

Hi Mrrzy

Checked this with my wife, who is an EMT and a CPR instructor certified by the American Heart Association.

Her advice is to take the classes in person, simply because with each passing year the knowledge, techniques, and tools available to caregivers change and improve so much that you are better off refreshing your certificate in person while interacting with a live instructor.

As an aside, for Health Care Provider certification, the American Heart Association only requires recertification every two years. Also, other levels of CPR classes are available through the AHA, (can't comment on that the American Red Cross offers) which do not require such strict recertification requirements. But - these are less comprehensive classes - you do not get a card.

Bottom line - any training you can get, however you get it, is really worthwhile.

Hope this is helpful

Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Online vs. warm body CPR course?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 May 09 - 03:42 PM

If you want general knowledge or a refresher, online is one thing. But if you want to be able to DO it without heditation on a real person (a real LIVE person), and KEEP them alive, then it's hands-on-- at least the first time and as often thereafter as you can, supplemented by online recerts if they make sense.

If you need a card for work, take whatever they offer, I guess, but don't confuse it with being really ready to do CPR as long as it takes wherever you may find the need to do it, until an ambulance arrives. It can take a long time for an ambulance to arrive.

Look at it this way. Which training would you rather be taken and certified by the person who revives YOU?

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Online vs. warm body CPR course?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 10:00 AM

Thanks, all!

Subject: RE: BS: Online vs. warm body CPR course?
From: open mike
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 10:30 AM

i did cpr yesterday--the protocol now has changed to 30 compressions to two ventilations. You do not do it on a "live" person, only pulseless and apnic--no heart beat, no breathing...

and the "bodies" (manikins) you practice on are anything but warm --quite cold and plastic Resusci Annie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resusci_Anne

Subject: RE: BS: Online vs. warm body CPR course?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 11:36 AM

One good reason for doing it in person is that CPR takes a lot more strength than you might think. The human ribcage doesn't flex at all easily, and significant force is required to depress the sternum enough to squeeze the heart. You can't learn that sitting at a computer.

Subject: RE: BS: Online vs. warm body CPR course?
From: Rowan
Date: 01 Jun 09 - 06:40 PM

I realise Mrrzy is asking from the US and, here in Oz, there are different rules. Almost every jurisdiction is now "harmonised" to require workplace first aid courses to cover a wide variety of subjects and practical and theory exams; CPR is always part of the drill. Such WorkCover accredited course are commonly known as "Senior First Aid" and require recertification every three years. I happened to do my recertification last Friday, where I was brought up to speed on changes to the CPR procedure (which I'd known anyway, 'cos it came in just after I'd done my previous recertification and I try to keep abreast).

open mike has it spot on, although the procedure here starts with two breaths, which often kicks the patient into responsiveness (leading to them being called "Rescue Breaths"); the compression rate has speeded up a trifle and is now just under two per second. When Daughter #1 did hers a couple of months ago the instructor suggested diddling (under your breath) the tune to "Staying Alive" as a good pacemaker.

To get to Mrrzy's question, while much of the course could be done online, the practice really does require some 'hands on' activity that I can't see being easily replicated over broadband; correct tensioning of compression bandages (eg for snakebite) is too trivial for the sort of software used by remote surgeons but almost as demanding, and getting CPR just right (on "Ken" as well as "Annie" and their bub) is much more demanding.

Best done with a good instructor and assessor.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Online vs. warm body CPR course?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 02 Jun 09 - 03:16 AM

As a trained risk assessor, I would have to say, go for the 'warm body' approach. As a risk assessor, I have to watch people at their desks, point out any hazards and suggest ways to alleviate problems with pressure points, seating arrangements and external/environmental influences. An online programme can tell you how these things should be, but it cannot tell YOU, the individual, what you are doing wrong, because often it is a habit or an unconscious action that can only be seen by an observer.

As pointed out above, protocols differ, recommendations change and problems evolve. It is always best to get the 'hands on' experience that a one-to-one or class environment will give you.

Which reminds me of something I was sent shortly before I went into hospital for a C section when Limpit was born: Picture this; a surgical team, all gathered around a patient on the table... surgeon says to nurse:

'Right, I want you to go to www.youcanbeasurgeon.com'

LTS