CPRMom

My last posts on online CPR courses hit a few nerves and there are a few good comments and a lot of interesting Twitter posts about Online CPR courses. When most people think of taking a course the first programs that come to mind are those offered by the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross. Both organizations offer good programs, but they are not the only programs out there. If you searched for CPR courses on the web you'd get thousands of hits back, some from companies you've never heard off. So how do you find a course? There are basically three types of CPR courses: Classroom, online and self-directed. Self-directed courses are programs you can purchase with equipment to learn and practice on your own. The American Heart Association's CPR Anytime and Infant CPR Anytime at www.shopcpranytime.org are good examples of this. You purchase a kit which contains a DVD and a small inflatable mannequin. The program does not lead to certification or a C...

When I was expecting my first child I remember my childbirth class instructor suggesting everyone take a CPR course. At the time I was a practicing EMT, so I was already certified and didn't think much of it. A few months later I belonged to a post partum group and someone I knew from the Fire Service came to discuss why parents should take a CPR class. Attending a CPR class is a really good idea, but how many new parents are able to fit it in with everything else that needs to be done before the baby arrives? We all know how to call 911 and in many areas the 911 dispatcher will provide EMD - Emergency Medical Dispatching. But how well would we be able to follow the dispatchers directions to provide effective CPR? Recently a study was done in England. Volunteers from a prenatal class were provided a telephone and an infant mannequin and instructed that they had just discovered an unresponsive infant. They were told to call for help and to follow the dispatcher's instructions. D...