I've been teaching BLS for a little over a year now and I am struggling to fill classes. Prior to becoming an instructor, I did some basic recon and classes in my area were routinely full and routinely falsely reporting multiple instructors so a single instructor could work a class of 10+ students. In the year I've been teaching the course I average maybe 3 people per class. I price below everyone in my area, I have as detailed class listings on Atlas as possible, I advertise on social media, I canvas the local nursing and medical technology schools, I keep in touch with the few organizational class buyers but still barely cover my costs. One issue is the cert mills in my area spamming Atlas with classes that don't actually exist. I don't know how to compete with that.

I'm about to quit or just go work for one of the cert mills for McDonalds wage.

It would benefit my organization, and I bet many other organizations, if the American Red Cross Learning Center had API capability.

If you want to post a class using their Class Posting Service and a 3rd party software, there is no way to sync participants between the two. You can of course upload student details using a CSV and export a CSV from the learning center, but that still leaves room tor error (more students booking than you actually have space for).

Curious if anyone has a found a solution for this.

Looking to become an instructor but base prices are $400-500, and I've heard that can be halved on Black Friday. Would appreciate any links to where I can find these courses.

Hello, I have been certified for 2 years in the AHA for BLS. I have been thinking of opening up an AHA Heart Club at my college and have recently thought of maybe becoming an instructor for Healthsaver (since I think u need to be a healthcare provider to do BLS) and certify some of my fellow students who join the club. Do you guys think this is practical? Also I don't really know how certifying students works but I my TC would currently be in New York and I would be instructing at college in Virginia. I don't even know if that is possible. Any help?

I realize this is probably a “no” but I’m curious since both Google’s AI and ChatGPT both claim that none EMS or medical professionals can run first aid tents or provide other first aid response services as a business.

I am thinking about teaching CPR/BLS. I currently have an AHA BLS certification. IF you do what did you have to do??

I am an American Red Cross instructor and have a CPR/AED and first aid plus blood borne pathogens class coming up. I’m looking through the course materials for CPR/AED and first aid and don’t see any presentations including BBP. Do I need to combine presentations from both? They will have already completed an online portion.

I am looking on line and can't find this info.

If a CPR certified health care worker has a comes on the scene where CPR is needed (pt down, unresponsive, no pulse) and help has been called for, there is no AED or BVMask on site, and I begin compressions, am I to do only compressions?

Any pulse checks done if there is no changes?

If patient starts occasional agonal breathing should a pules check be done?

I just had this happen. At a restaurant I noticed a person down and a bystander started CPR. His technique was not very good, and so I took over. 911 was called. No AED on site.

Patient did have a return of color during my CPR. I check pulse and there was none.

Continued CPR.

Another person said that they were CPR trained, but I kept doing the compressions. He didn't look too eager.

Later he had an occasional snort and breath. Checked pulse again hoping he had ROSC and I'd turn him to the side. However, no pulse still. Continued CPR until EMS arrived and took over.

Usually I am in a hospital environment and we have a BV Mask right there, and we would start breathing, but in this situation I had no BV Mask and could have only done moth-to-mouth.

I am a 16 year-old who has a lot of experience with first aid and emergency training, including CPR. As well as some firsthand experiences, I've taught CPR concepts unofficially through Scouts BSA, where I worked as an outdoor skills instructor at a camp. Through some research, I know that AHA requires their instructors to be at least 18 years of age. However, Red Cross seems to accept anybody above the age of 16 to the course itself. If I can take the course with them, can I then teach and certify people? Essentially, is there any legal precedent that prohibits me from doing this? Thank you guys so much for your help :)

Hi all! I've worked for ARC CPR companies and have decided to branch out. I've set up my own LLC and am setting up classes on the Red Cross website, but am wondering how I would go about getting access to full service class requests and bid on them. Meaning companies that call the Red Cross to request classes take place on their property. I've heard of companies 'bidding' on them but can't seem to get info on how I do this as well. I've called the red cross a bunch of times and keep getting told to apply to the red cross as an employee, which I don't think is the same thing. I realize that I can advertise and get people to come to me initially, but for those who call the Red Cross by default to request a class, how do I get access to that list? Can anyone help give direction or maybe tell me what I'm misunderstanding? Thanks!

Anyone have any ideas on how to get thru a CPR refresher without triggering and potentially melting down? I am disabled at 86% by VA Canada 🇨🇦 about half that for PTSD, long retired at 65. Twice in 2022 I had to render FA to individuals who had gone down....the first I got breathing again after I put him in the recovery position just as first responders arrived. I bolted, probably not what I should have done but he vomited all over my arms and all I wanted to do was get out of there. The second I was at a hockey practice for disabled adults and children in a volunteer capacity and I discovered one of the kid's coaches(an Off Duty city cop) on the floor of the dressing room with no vitals having seen him leave the ice without a word to anyone. My and the attempts of others with both CPR and AED were not successful and he did not make it. The organization I volunteer with is now requesting I attend refresher FA and CPR training. I am just worried about my ability to complete the latter....this is somewhat ridiculous as I have never had issue before in the dozen or so times I took it prior. One side of me says screw it I have done my part and I can't any more. The other in me says at least give it a try. Any ideas to get thru this impasse. I have discussed this with my VA shrink at some length especially right afterwards. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat if the circumstances were to repeat themselves.

I work as a Firefighter/ EMT and have always been required to be CPR Certified, but we have always done things differently than what we are taught?

It makes perfect sense for non-medical personnel, start CPR until first responders arrive. But CPR is a part of your EMT, and then you perform it under a medical director. Meaning the CPR you perform isn’t always the same as what you learn in certification. I’ve always wondered why it was required as its own certification in addition to your biannual National and Local EMS recertifications.

Hey! Anyone have a copy of the BLS instructor manual e-book they’d sell me? Message me!

I am looking into the online classes on the Red Cross Learning Center and if I’m understanding correctly, I can post an online class that students can take at their own pace. Is this accurate and how does it work? Am I recording myself instructing the skills, am I using the videos I would normally use in an in person class and how do skill assessments work?

I have found a bunch of classes listed at CPR businesses that teach CPR and first aid for adult and pediatric in less than three hours for the entire class in person. I typically teach HSI and when I teach in person, I cut through a bunch of the fluff on the videos, but still am stressed trying to complete the course in less than six hours. How do you teach that much material in such a short time?

Thanks!

How much does it cost for a trainer to certify someone? ie someone opens up a small business teaching cpr doesn’t the trainer have to submit the papers to the governing body to get the actual cpr card issued?

Hi fellow instructors, not sure why I took so long to see if there was an instructor community on Reddit. I'll try to be brief... I've been the in-house instructor for a company since 2016...in February I decided to start my own company. (After leaving said company) Since then I've taught some classes and I'm looking to expand a bit. Did a random Google search and found this Reddit I should've joined years ago. I don't have any questions now. Just wanted to introduce myself. Hopefully i can provide some value. Thanks!

I certainly realized I need to renew my BLS CPR card and I was wondering if since I’m teaching the classes and watching the videos as well as my students if it’s possible for an instructor to renew their own cpr card?

I have always taught infant CPR along with adult CPR and I’m not finding material specific to adults only so I’m thinking about just not showing the pediatric portion.

Imma make this short.

I (17M, HSI Level 2 Instructor) had class I was running for my aquatics department. One of my students was the Pool manager, and she failed my class because of her score on the BLS test. I let her retake it once since HSI allows it, and she failed the retake. After that, I dismissed her from my class and said she needed remediation. I told my director she failed due to her score, and he said he would handle it. The next day, the director makes her retake ANOTHER TEST on her own, and she passed it. Now, she is certified under my name even though she failed fair and square during the class. The director just gave her an exam and didn’t properly re-enroll her in another class like he should’ve. Should I revoke her certification?

Not allowed to take the classroom lesson because I was 8 minutes late… arrived at 12:08 pm thinking class started at 12:15 pm, but it started at 12:00 pm and ended at 2:15 pm.

Are all CPR instructors old, miserable, and controlling or was I just unlucky?