I did it! I passed my CPR/AED/First Aid Certification and once I receive and send in my form, I can be completely AFAA Certified (they require a separate CPR certification in addition to their Primary Group Fitness Certification).
My friend Megan stopped by to pick me up for CPR certification. She’s an instructor and needed the certification to complete her AFAA (which we did together) too.
First things first, we needed coffee. I had a cup of coffee at home, but not food. I had good intentions of having breakfast at home, but I was running short on time and decided since we had already planned on an Sbucks trip that I could get food there, too.
I love this sign at Starbucks – “I wish everyone could see how much we all have in common.” I do.
I got a spinach feta wrap…
…and a grande soy caramel brulee latte.
I enjoyed breakfast on the car ride over.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect of the certification. I didn’t know if it would formal or casual, rigid or relaxed. I was worried the class would be stuffy and the tests would be difficult ones where you had to demonstrate CPR in front of the entire class, etc. It turned out to be much better than I thought it would be and definitely an overall positive experience.
I did my training through Caskey CPR led by Grace Caskey. I thought Grace was very personable and did an excellent job of taking (sometimes) boring material and making it interesting. She kept my attention and added some good personal stories to add examples. Grace also seems to be quite the real-life-superhero. She told us stories in between lectures about people she had helped over the years – from car accident victims to acquaintances. She is quite literally a real life saver!
Our training went from 8am to almost 2pm and featured videos, lectures, and hands-on practice all mixed up during the day, which all led up to a 50 question multiple exam.
Here’s me and my dummy-friend Ralph.
And Megan with baby and her Ralph.
I enjoyed this Yummy Earth organic lollipop in razzmatazz berry as a pre-exam snack. Picked this up at Jason’s last night.
After we were done with our exams, Grace even stayed after to grade our tests so we could find out our results right then and there. How nice!? Turns out…I only missed 1 question! Woot-woot!
I have to say after having taken the exam, it would seem beneficial if more people would get CPR and/or AED/First Aid certified, even if you aren’t required to do so for your job or for a certification. The material we learned is truly practical to real life and you never know when the knowledge would come in handy and possibly even save someone’s life – including a loved one of yours! What if one of your family members, heaven forbid, had a stroke or heart attack or was choking? With this training, you would know some steps to possibly help save their life. I’m thinking of asking hubby to get certified (though I haven’t actually asked him yet).
We actually did our certification at the biggest church in the southeast (ok, I made that up, but it’s HUGE and totally could be!)
I loved the little Christmas trees up at the front.
I’ve always wanted to go inside to see what it looked like. It was so spacious and even had side seating like a (broadway not movie) theater!
Neat!
Reader Question: Are you CPR or AED or First Aid certified? Have any personal stories from when your training came in handy?