December Instructor Newsletter
Okay, so I missed sending a newsletter in October and November. There just wasn’t a lot to share and I got a bit busy with classes and processing quite a few rosters for a few of you. I’m not sure if I’ve said this, but I truly appreciate the amazing work everyone is doing training in your communities. None of us knows when the participants we train will need the skills covered in our classes, but we should all be proud of what we do and that we’re providing the tools and training for someone to help someone in need or potentially save a life.
Welcome new instructors! We’ve held several instructor courses so far this year and have trained 2 new BLS instructors this fall. We held 6 BLS Instructor courses and 1 Heartsaver Instructor course in 2021.
We are scheduling Instructor courses every month. If you know anyone who is interested in becoming an instructor have them check out the information on the website.
BLS Instructor course info is here: https://shortlink.cprenroll.com/chzVDdGjsh.
Heartsaver Instructor course info is here: https://shortlink.cprenroll.com/rCZwR03bY3.
2022 Annual Instructor Membership Fee
The primary cost to run the Training Center is the cost of the insurance the AHA requires that we have. This cost is divided among all the instructors in the Training Center. We have grown this past year and the annual fee is dropping from $30 per instructor to $20. This can be paid by logging into CPR Enroll and clicking on IG Products on the left menu. You can pay this online. If you prefer to mail a check please send it to Coastal CPR & First Aid, 861 Lafayette Rd #7, Hampton, NH 03842. Please make the check out to Coastal CPR and First Aid. Please submit your annual membership fee by 1/31/2022.
Do you have your 2020 Guidelines Training Materials?
At this point everyone should have purchased their 2020 videos and instructor manuals. If you have not, and if you would like to purchase at a 5% discount please contact me. I have set up an account through AED Superstore to receive a discounted price on AHA materials. I can also purchase non-AHA materials for 10% off. Just contact me to find out more.
Speaking of discounts…
We also have a volume discount account through WorldPoint. If you have not already done so, you can set up an account with them through our TC to receive discounts and free shipping. Right now our discount is 7% off. If more instructors purchase through WorldPoint we may move to the next bracket and receive a larger discount. The more we order the higher the discount. If you want to set up an account let me know and I’ll connect you with our account rep to add you to our TC account.
AHA Webinars
The AHA holds monthly webinars on Blended Learning. If you are interested in attending one let me know and I’ll forward you the most recent webinar sign up link.
There is an upcoming webinar on 2/3/22 that I think is super important to anyone teaching Heartsaver courses and I have this in bold so you don’t skip the info I am going to provide here. When teaching Heartsaver you may have noticed all the information in the Instructor manual and on the videos about Pathways. For learners using blended learning this has been SUPER CONFUSING (yes I meant shouty all caps!). For instructors there are soooo many options to select or not when teaching a class! The AHA has a webinar coming up in February to explain/discuss this and if you are teaching Heartsaver I strongly encourage you to register and attend this free webinar.
You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Feb 3, 2022 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Heartsaver Frequently Asked Questions
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://heart.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_je_mhbSfR2aguszhBQT7EA
I was on a webinar a few months ago and Heartsaver pathways came up. I think the participants in the webinar overwhelmed the speakers with Heartsaver pathways questions, which may have prompted them setting up this one.
Instructor Renewals
Several of you are coming up for renewal. Due to the pandemic the AHA has lowered the required number of classes to teach in a 2 year cycle from 4 to 2. If you have not taught 2 classes in the past 2 years please contact me. I have classes coming up that you can teach to meet this requirement. Rick and I will be doing course monitoring and testing as part of the instructor renewal process. This may be done in-person or remotely. This is to ensure that we are meeting all AHA requirements. Our Training Center Agreement with the AHA details paperwork requirements for courses and instructors and this will help us to meet those requirements.
Would you like to be a Training Center Faculty Member?
The AHA requires that we have a ratio of Training Center Faculty to the number of instructors aligned with the Training Center. As we have grown, our need for Training Center Faculty has increased. We are looking for instructors who would like to volunteer for this role. I’m sure you’re wondering… what does this mean? What do faculty do? Here’s what involved:
- Training Center Faculty (TCF) help mentor instructors. They provide support as needed.
- TCF can be BLS or Heartsaver Instructors. We should have TCF in more than 1 discipline.
- There is a TCF handbook and training session.
- TCF can teach instructor courses. Instructor courses will need to be approved by the TC (Rick or I) first.
- TCF can support the TC with Instructor Monitoring sessions, which is a compensated position.
- TCF can be designated as eCard admins to issue eCards on behalf of the TC and for their own classes.
If you would like more information or to be come a TCF please contact Gail.
Do you want to teach more classes?
I am looking at expanding the number of classes taught at the Training Center classroom in Hampton. I also occasionally receive requests to provide outside classes and can’t fit them into my schedule, or it’s a large group and we’d need 2-3 instructors.
I’m making a list of who would like to teach at the Training Center or would like to be contacted for outside classes. If you’d like to be on these lists, please let me know.
On a personal note…
With the 2020 Guidelines you may all be familiar that they created a new link in the chain of survival – Recovery. Continuing post-arrest care after hospitalization and family support. I am beginning to learn about this first hand. I am friends with several of you outside of the TC and you are aware, but for those who are not – my husband had an SCA this past week. He is currently doing well in our local hospital – conscious, complaining about the food, the usual. They can’t find anything wrong so we’re just going through a lot of tests. We’re currently waiting on a bed at a different facility for a more detailed test. I am thankful he collapsed at work with trained providers. But as I mentioned at the beginning of this newsletter – the community training that you are providing could easily have been the folks who saved his life. It doesn’t matter if you are training Paramedics, EMTs, Teachers, childcare providers, municipal employees, or Joe Q Public. All these folks have the ability and knowledge through the training that you provide to save someone’s life. I am truly 100% thankful for all that you do. I can’t really express it more without getting super emotional. The classes you provide are helping families have the Holidays together, to spend family time together, and to grow old and annoy the heck out of each other. We’ve been a Training Center for 19 months. I’ve learned a lot about running a TC, I’ve leaned a lot on Rick and my family, but I’m super proud and honored to be teaching along side of all of you. As I learn more about the survivor side of things I am constantly reminded of what each of us is doing in every class that we teach. I would not be learning about Recovery if the training we do did not work. And for that I am thankful for what each of you do in every class. ~ Gail