Tag Archives: red cross

Jan23

Stayin’ Alive

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Stayin’ Alive

Hello! As an Independent Provider, it is required to get recertified in CPR and First Aid every two years. I am always more than happy to do so because not only is this certification beneficial for my clients, but it can help my family, friends, and perfect strangers too. This past weekend, I had my in person skills assessment at a church in Akron. I am pleased to report that I didn’t burst into flames and that I passed with flying colors! 😀

I have been working in my field for a decade, which means this was my fifth CPR and First Aid training. In my group, a majority of the people had never taken a class before and I became the guinea pig of the day. I could tell that everyone felt pretty nervous and, honestly, it made ME nervous to be the first one to perform skills because what if I suck lol. I vividly remember my first CPR and First Aid training. There was SO. Much. Information. and it was incredibly overwhelming. The anxiety for me was palpable that day and I could literally feel it in the air at class this weekend. Thankfully, everything went without a hitch and it made me feel good to help ease some nerves and encourage and guide others.

CPR and First Aid are life saving skills and can be one of those things that you lose if you aren’t doing them often. I was SO glad to be able to have a refresher because our teacher for the day was excellent. I was incredibly appreciative of the fact that she really took the time to pinpoint areas of improvement with each student, myself included. She was also very calm and collected, which I liked a lot. By employing the pro tips she taught and trying to emulate her cool as a cucumber demeanor, it made performing the skills more natural and increased my confidence. You never know what the scene will be like during an emergency situation and it was such good practice to be able to match her energy and maintain a level head with each skill.

If you have never taken a CPR and First Aid course, I truly can’t recommend it enough. These aren’t just skills for people in specific jobs, they are for everyone to learn. Hopefully, you will never encounter a situation that warrants using these life saving techniques. However, should it happen, you will be well equipped to help.

Do you know how to do CPR? What song do you use in your head? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan20

Busy Day OOTD Bloopers

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Busy Day OOTD Bloopers

Hello everyone and welcome to the blooper reel from my Busy Day OOTD! Normally, weekends are my time to veg out and catch up on my R&R after a long work week. This past Saturday, however, was different because I needed to get recertified in CPR and first aid for my job as an Independent Provider. As much as I don’t like doing anything work related during my beloved time off, I am happy to have gotten it done and brush up on my skills. Of course, I had to take some OOTD pics before I got my training on and, as always, there were lots of yikes shots interspersed with the winners. Check it out:

Looking like Donkey from Shrek

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The face of a gal who’s READY to get her CPR on

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Do you think they’ll go over how to pop your foot in this class?

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Spoiler Alert: They didn’t. *Face palm*

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Sweet mother was it cold out!!!! Smiling through the pain

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Getting ready for my close up…

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I LOOK GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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As an Independent Provider, I have to get recertified in CPR and first aid every two years and this was my fourth time doing so. Back in 2022, I had arguably the WORST time at the class. It had snowed like crazy the night before, my car got stuck in the parking lot, and Johnny had to take me to the Red Cross building in Akron for the training. This was fine, but what wasn’t okay was that the teacher of the class was TWO HOURS late! All of the trainees decided to stick around instead of sign up for another session because the weather was crap. I think we were all so fed up by the time the teacher arrived that it was going to be the worst class ever regardless of if she did a good job or not.

This time around, though, was fantastic. It was actually the best training I have ever had in four sessions because our fearless leader, RANDY, was amazing! He armed us all with a wealth of knowledge and perspectives that I have never heard before in almost a decade. Not to mention the fact that Randy was an absolute cut up. He was cracking jokes left and right and real recognized real because I was his go to for some back and forth. It was a hoot!

My favorite part of the class has got to be when we were practicing CPR on our dummies. Randy told us the situation could get chaotic if we ever had to perform CPR and he did his best to bring that craziness to our practice rounds. He would bend down beside our dummies yelling “JOE, YOU’RE GONNA MAKE IT! YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!!!”. In my head, I was having a laugh but it didn’t stop me from doing a good job! I am also pleased to report that I didn’t lose count for compressions even when Randy was trying to mess us up by going “thirteen, twenty-four, two, nine” and so on and so forth. He had some tricks up his sleeve, for sure, but I have never felt more confident in my CPR ability than after his class. 🙂

Even though it was a Busy Day, I am thrilled for it because I would have never gotten the highest quality training in CPR and first aid that I have ever had. Fingers crossed that Randy will be my teacher again in 2026!

Are you certified in CPR or first aid? Why did you have to get that training done? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah