CPRMom

So this is the post I started on Friday, and then got busy and now here it is Monday. A few weeks ago I received an email from someone needing CPR AED certification quickly. This happens a lot for me. Sometimes deadlines or card expiration dates creep up quickly and suddenly folks realize that their certification card has expired and they either can't work or turn in their re-licensing paperwork without a valid card. The challenge was - all my upcoming classes before the date she needed it by were full. I also don't have a lot of available time. sigh My business is feast or famine, ... seriously. I'm either popular or I'm not. Since the courses lead to 2 year certification people only come looking for me once every 2 years. Right now I'm super popular. It's exciting and its overwhelming. Because not only do I run my small business; I have 4 children, a part-time job I love and a small content/writing business. Oh and I volunteer WAAAAYYYYYY too m...

My business phone is my cell phone. It looks like this one: Except mine has scratches and dings in it. And a pretty wacky eclectic background. I don't always answer my phone. As a business I should try to answer it every time it rings. If you're in business and reading this you're thinking.... "she's wacked going to lose business.... why doesn't she answer her phone?". But sometimes I'm not in a good spot to answer my phone. I could be in the car driving (a not-so-secret secret: I have 4 kids, I do a lot of driving in the afternoons & evening shuttling my kids to their various activities) . I can't look up information about an upcoming class, take a course registration, or take information if I'm driving. I could be in a class. I can't talk on the phone if I'm teaching. I could be at home. I do answer the phone when I'm home, but I don't always have it in my hand or pocket. If I'm in my basement...

A while back I wrote a post about my new Road ID. As I begin training for this year's race season I made sure I had my Road ID and am doing my best to remember to where it. Why do I feel that I need to wear ID when I work out? If you follow the link in my previous blog post you'll read about the bicyclist who was found unresponsive on the side of the road, with no ID. No one knew who he was for at least a day. That was a wake up call for me. I walk pretty regularly. I'm not a runner, but I began competitive race walking last year. I enjoy it and it's good exercise. Yesterday I walked on a road I'm not normally on, but had time to kill while my van was being repaired. It's a road heavily traveled by very large trucks. What would have happened if the truck swerved into the shoulder? What would have happened if I tripped and fell when traffic was heavy? I don't carry my wallet or purse when I walk. My Road ID has my information and my husba...

I read a great article this morning in one of the CPR First Aid Instructor forums I belong to; Unmasking the Certification Mill Problem published in Occupational Health and Safety . This is a topic I'm pretty passionate about. Online-only CPR and First Aid certification websites are scams. They promise "nationally accepted" certification that you take in your home and you can print your card on your own printer. Unfortunately most employers and licensing boards will not accept these cards. Why? Because there is no hands-on component to the course. I did a quick search on my blog and discovered over the past 4 years I've written on this topic a few times. Starting with Online CPR First Aid courses in 2009, I've written Be wary of some online BLS courses , False CPR certification , Video or computer based training versus learning it the old fashioned way , and I received this comment... . On my Coastal CPR & First Aid Blog I've posted What is o...

So I did something crazy and impulsive this morning. I signed up for a blog challenge. And it starts TODAY. Ack! I know I need to spending more time on my blogs and websites... Yeah, that's blogs plural. My primary business is teaching and it's feast or famine, I'm either popular or I'm not. The past few months I've been SUPER popular which has been great. But a lot of the fun things (blogging), and necessary things (paperwork) have begun to pile up. So I'm probably nuts to commit to this. But I learned an interesting lesson about myself recently and this challenge ties into it. I gave up cookies for Lent. Really, I did... except for the one I ate so I could evenly divide 3 cookies between 2 young children. If you have young children you know why I needed to do that. It was really hard at first. Especially since I'm a Girl Scout Leader and I've had Girl Scout cookies in my house since mid-February. So I fully expected Easter Evening t...