What to Expect, Wear, and Bring to your Red Cross CPR/AED Class

Hey everyone, welcome! Thanks so much for joining the American Red Cross for a live detailing of what you can expect when attending your CPR AED class. My name is Dwayne Lindo. I'm the Regional Communications Manager here in the Central Florida region, specifically in Orlando. Now, I've been here for five years now, and in those five years, we've had folks within this region receive life-saving awards. People who have stepped up as heroes who knew this life-saving skill of CPR and been able to go in and literally save lives. So, I'm focused and sure of how important this life-saving skill is in the five years I've been part of the Red Cross.

Now remember, make sure that you put your questions in the chat box, and my lovely Red Cross volunteer, Kathy Burkett, will read them out at the end. Today's a special day. I got to let you know, ladies and gentlemen, today I'm with Red Cross instructor and trainer Manny Perez. Now we'll go into depth on common questions and provide a CPR demonstration.

Now, I've known Manny for a couple of years now, and anytime I have a question regarding CPR or I have a reporter may want to do an interview whether it's in Tampa or Orlando, Manny is one of the first persons I go to when I need to ask a question or when I have an inquiry. So, Manny is one of my trusted colleagues here at the American Red Cross, and I know him pretty well. And I think it's fair that not only that the fact that I know him, that everyone else knows him as well. So, Manny, again, thank you for being here and kind of let everyone know basically how long you've been with the Red Cross and training service in particular and just your bio, if you will.

My name is Manny Perez. I'm an instructor, trainer, educator is my title here in Training Services, and my function is to float around the country delivering instructor trainer level, instructor level, and participant level certifications in all the various disciplines of CPR and first aid that we offer. I've been with the organization as an external provider, as a volunteer here in the chapters, and full-time staff of the Red Cross since 1999. So, rolling up on 25 years here delivering this content.

So that is awesome. Now give me a sense, the folks you've been here for a while, the folks that signed up for this class, what do you find is the key motivation for folks signing up for CPR? Often folks are registering for a CPR and first aid class to comply with workplace needs and compliance with different local and state regulations and making sure folks on staff at their, their business are ready to deal with emergencies. So, they come to us for training in that way. But just as often, people are registering just out of the sense of personal duty or concern and feeling they can respond whether it's in their home or larger community to these kinds of emergencies, right?

So, no matter what your motivation for signing up, whether it be for work or you simply just want to have the knowledge, the fact is that every second counts in this life-threatening situation. In any life-threatening situation, that is why it is so important to be prepared and feel empowered to rescue or respond in a critical moment when it happens.

But this live session will contain three parts.

First of all, we will provide an overview of the classroom setting. And Kathy, if you can pan to your left a little bit there, so we can get a shot of the mannequins to give everyone a visual of what folks will be looking at during the second portion of our live session, which is the skills portion. So, you know what to expect when you are in a classroom learning CPR.

And the last portion will be the question-and-answer portion. And remember, Kathy Burkin is our eyes here, she will read out the questions, or I may read out the questions. Put those questions in the chat box, and we will answer. Manny will answer your questions, in that portion of the live session.

First, let us start with the kind of classroom setting and what you know, what people can expect. So, tell me, what is the difference between a blended learning class and a fully instructor-led class? The significant difference between the two is the participant gets to manage their acquisition of the knowledge and the skills and the time that they invest. In an instructor-led class, more traditional format, after registering on redcross.org and then coming into the class the instructor would guide the participants in that group through guided discussions and lecture, through skill sessions and practice with feedback, and then an assessment scenario eventually to achieve the certification.

In the blended learning format, the participants would register ahead of time but then be granted access to online content to cover the cognitive portion of the class and learn the underlying concepts. They would then meet the instructor at the pre-arranged time and do an abbreviated skills session. So, at the end of the process, the certification resulting would be effectively the same, but the student gets to manage how they get that information in the blended learning format certainly they can start, start and stop and go attend to other activities but the system would save their progress and they be able to jump back in and manage their time as they see fit and their requirements dictate.

Q1: What to Wear

Right, and I know comfortability is a factor when attending one of these classes. Like, for instance, I'm wearing a long sleeve shirt right now. Is this appropriate? Or kind of talk about what's appropriate and coming into the class and what to wear.

You look great, but we don't need to come on our Sunday best necessarily. We need to come comfortably dressed, so business casual is the order of the day. Something that the participant feels comfortable in, in terms of managing their temperature but also facilitating movement around the classroom and performing skills and participating in the larger discussions.

And how long does this class usually take? For the blended learning course, we can expect to invest about two hours or so in doing that online content and then coming into the skills session for a blended learning would be about an hour and a half or so for the adult and pediatric CPR, AED, and first aid.

In the instructor-led, we could be here for around two hours up to 3 hours 45 minutes or so for the traditional instructor-led in the adult and pediatric, first aid, CPR, and AED outline.

After our mannequins are used to practice the skills and simulate the delivery of care also, we have our AED trainers simulating devices that recreate the experience of using an AED. We have pads that adhere to the mannequin to simulate that delivery of care. Participants would be provided, as they enter the classroom, a student training kit with non-latex disposable gloves, a flexible face shield breathing barrier, and some bandaging material they use to practice all the skills. Also, on the tables today, we have got the limb trainers we use for the first aid component too.

Right, and you just mentioned a few things where you want to make sure that everything is clean. Absolutely, yes. So, when the instructor's coming in and sets up their materials, we are going to make sure that those are clean and ready to go. There is a clean lung in at the beginning of the class, a clean face on each of the mannequins, so the participants can feel comfortable coming into the classroom and participating in a realistic way, that is also safe. And we will use those breathing barriers during the practices for that aspect of care. We use non-latex disposable gloves throughout the care, and we learn to take those off properly. And then after the class, the instructor breaks that mannequin down and sets it up for the next experience.

Right, so obviously things are sanitized well. Awesome, awesome.

Because you know, sometimes you want to make sure that you have some one-on-one with some of your students, right? Sure, the instructor is always going to devote their attention to each individual participant when they come into the class but we also in terms of our training design utilize a peer-to-peer reciprocal practicing model where the students are interacting with each other and the instructors managing the whole experience for the larger group. So, for those reasons we limit our class sizes in our community offerings to 12 participants to ensure that everybody gets the necessary attention, the necessary support, but they are also interacting with a group of people with different perspectives and the opportunity to hear things in different voices and different ideas as well.

I think we can find out what high-quality CPR looks like. We can move on to our skill session at this point. So, Manny, we can go over there and move on to the mannequin. Let us look here at our cpr mannequins here, the Big Reds, are going to simulate the delivery care and give some feedback as the participant interacts with them simulating what I do throughout the whole response. Any first aid responder would enter the scene checking for safety as a preliminary concern to make sure it is okay for us to be there. If the scene's safe and we determine there is a need to get care, we pull out our personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves and a breathing barrier and that would enable us to deliver care in an effective way.

We would form an initial impression as we approach the person to determine what life-threatening conditions are present and what care needs to be delivered. If the person appears unresponsive, I shout in a loud voice, "Are you okay?" If the person's unresponsive to a verbal prompt, I approach closer with gloves on and tap on the shoulder shouting again, "Are you okay?" If the person's unresponsive to that shout, tap, and shout I’d indicate to a bystander to call more advanced personnel to get an AED and first aid kit and come back to the scene. When they are done in that assessment, no more than 10 seconds, if I don't see that the person's responsive or breathing, I would begin CPR right away. And our mannequins are going to facilitate that practice and enable us to see what modifications need to be made. If I determine the person's not conscious and not breathing, I place my hands on the chest position my shoulders over my hands so I can use body weight and compress the chest at least two inches at a rate of 100 to 120 compressions for a cycle of 30 compressions. Something like one and two and three and four and five and six and seven and eight and nine and ten and eleven and twelve and thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, and thirty. After 30 compressions are delivered, I use my breathing barrier to give two slow breaths and then after that, resume another cycle of 30 compressions, repeating cycles of 30 and two until another responder arrives and takes over the scene becomes unsafe, I'm too fatigued to continue, or the AED arrives and is ready to use.

We are going to simulate that here with our AED trainer turning the device on. It would deliver voice prompts instructing me what care to deliver. While the AED is talking, I would expose the person's chest, drying off the skin and then as directed, place the pads on the body, one pad on the upper right, one pad on the lower left side. And when both pads are on the body, I can then plug in the connector and allow the AED to analyze, determining the necessity of care and deliver a shock when prompted to do so. When I deliver a shock or if no shock is advised, I'd resume cycles of 30 and two again, very much as I demonstrated. And every two minutes, the AED would analyze again, determining the need for care, and I would continue until help arrives.

So that is the start-to-finish approach and the complete delivery of care. Let's give Dwayne here a chance and coaching as I would in the class in that coach bystander role as a participant managed by the instructor. From Cathy's perspective we would ensure the person is on their back on a firm, flat surface. Kneel beside the person, your knees should be about shoulder-width apart near the person's body. We'll place the heel of one hand on the center of the chest, the other hand on top, fingers interlaced. Position your shoulders so they're over your hands. You're going to lean forward, forward even further and then compress the chest at least two inches. Push hard and fast. Every time that light's lighting up, they're doing great. Allow the chest to return to its normal position, full compression, full recoil.

And then we move on. So absolutely, within that context the coach would direct their partner through. The instructor would manage the rotation of those roles. Everybody, if you were the first aid responder, you're now going to coach your partner through these steps, read each step aloud, and offer feedback. And that would allow the instructor to manage the larger group and insert feedback, allowing the participants to learn from one another and improve their performance. And then from chest compressions like we just had Dwayne demonstrate the instructor would rotate into giving breaths with a face shield, into giving cycles of CPR, into using an AED, and culminating in adult CPR with an assessment scenario. And the instructor would prompt the group with cues as to what's happening in that emergency and allow the first aid responders to exhibit some decision-making and build their confidence, they can do it without someone standing over their shoulder.

Confidence is a huge factor when doing this, right? Absolutely. By practicing in a moderated environment, in a supportive environment like this, with supplementary materials that define the appropriate delivery of care we can repeat in a less stressful environment.

Should deliver care when it when it really happens, right Manny? I mean, that was a great demonstration. I think some of the folks that have logged on may have a few questions but let me ask you. Right, we could sit right back down but let me ask you too.

Cardiac arrest, how do you know when someone's in cardiac arrest? I mean, it's hard for people to tell, right? Sure, absolutely. It's a little tricky. Other life-threatening conditions may be a little bit difficult to differentiate, but in our discussions in this class for the standard first aid, CPR, and AED course, if a person is unresponsive and not breathing or only gasping, that would be an indicator that their body's not functioning properly and we would, after calling 911 and requesting an AED, begin CPR right away.

We can satisfy workplace requirements we can start schooling in different disciplines and prepare ourselves to interact with our larger community and be safer in those, those work and home and community environments.

How do I know which class format is right for me?

We go to redcross.org on our class page we have a really good set of descriptions there of each class. We had some online learning where the informational content is presented, and we could get some background on what constitutes care for what kinds of conditions. Bended learning might be a little bit more effective if you have a bit of a busier schedule and you can start and stop that cognitive portion. And then when it comes time to take that hands-on skills session the skill session is then shorter because that background knowledge has been achieved already. Other folks might feel a little bit more comfortable being led through the whole experience from start to finish, and the class format may be longer on the day. Some folks might feel a little bit more comfortable and build confidence through that discussion and comprehensive delivery of all that information.

Right, and Manny right behind us we have toddler mannequins, and we just performed a demonstration on the adult mannequin.

What is the difference between performing CPR on, say, an adult as opposed to a toddler or a child? We're going to make some modifications to the technique. Sequentially, care for the adult, child, or infant would be effectively the same in the delivery of compressions and breaths in cycles of 30 and 2. What would change is how we compress the chest. For a child, a person before the onset of puberty, we compress about two inches allowing chest recoil, where we compress at least two inches on the adult.

We did a full head tilt to give the two breaths on the adult. We'd go slightly past the neutral position for a child. So then further on the infant, a person under the age of one would use an encircling thumbs technique to deliver compressions to a depth of an inch and a half, allowing full recoil. And then we would give breaths into the nostrils and the mouth at the same time and only tilt the head to about a neutral position always using the breathing barriers is one of the directions we get in the class too.

I know there are a few folks that have taken this class. Now one of their main questions, and I hear this every so often, how often should I refresh my CPR knowledge?

That is a question that folks often ask when they take this class. Absolutely, one of the more significant concerns is the knowledge being useful for a long time. So what we've arrived at through the time that the Red Cross has been delivering training is that we've arrived on a two-year certification period. So retraining on a two-year interval seems to be the most effective approach. there can be some concerns in the interim before your certification comes due.

One of the things that we have after the class is our first aid app. If you go to Google Play or to the Apple App Store, you can download for free an application that helps us recall our training that we've achieved in the class in a real simple quick reference format. There's a hospital finder function there, and we can locate emergency rooms. As we scroll through the care steps, there is an option in life-threatening emergencies for us to call 911 from the app. And then the app also has some information about some FAQs to help us recall our training, some informational and social media connectivity, and then we can connect to redcross.org through the app and re-sign up for another set of training.

It’s tough to see someone who needs this life training procedure. How do I prepare myself mentally and emotionally, emotionally to perform CPR in real life? Because doing it here and doing it in real life, obviously two different things, right? That's a very valid concern that any participant might experience. By taking the initiative to get training and to get some of those supplementary materials like our participant manual, we can fill in some of that background knowledge and expand our understanding and understand how these conditions arise, and then be prepared when those emergencies arise to, to actually step up and deliver care. And then using the first aid app as a way to refresh our memories as to what proper care consists of we'll be able to step forth when the moment arrives. And one thing I'm interested in, I mean, normally there are kids that are young may want to take this course. What is the age requirement for this course?

For in our standard first aid, CPR, and AED courses, we don't have an age requirement. We simply want to ensure that the participant can perform CPR. Everybody participates, everybody experiences some, some learning. If a person is physically capable of doing chest compressions and giving breaths, they can attend the CPR class and be certified when they achieve those requirements.

I mentioned earlier that we've had quite a few folks within this region, our 19-county region, who have received one of our Red Cross lifesaving awards.

How essential is it for folks to know this type of life training skill? It's important that we be able to step up in those situations and by participating in these trainings, that's the foundation for that. And we have some knowledge in our minds and some physical experience, some practice knowing what constitutes effective care.

I've delivered multiple certificates of merit to participants from classes and received recognition as an instructor who's delivered training to recipients of these. Most recently, we had somebody in our Sarasota office where a young person, an elementary school-aged child, could save her parent's life by delivering some of the care we talk about in those classes. So, it can make a difference and when we least expect it when someone is able to utilize what they've seen in these demonstrations, what they've experienced in these practices, to feel like they can do the thing when someone's not standing around and coaching them through.

I know this course is obviously online; folks can take it online, but they must be in person. They must take it in person, right? We have great informational content in our online-only training, and everybody's welcome to access it by going to redcross.org/take-a-class, and there's much information there. Consider, on the other hand, some workplaces/organizations may require you to participate in training that includes a hands-on component. And through our blended learning classes, through our instructor-led classes, that's what we offer. And those classes would result in certification that the participant could present then to that larger group of people that need to see their background and knowledge.

Remember that to find a class there, you go to redcross.org/take-a-class. You'll see that URL in the banner on your screen, and you can find a course that works for you and your schedule, just whether it's in person, remote, blended learning. So again, that is redcross.org/take-a-class.