Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

Not All Certifications Are the Same

Posted by terrepruitt on September 19, 2009

This is a bit of a continuation of my CPR, AED, First Aid Training post. Things to think about and figure out:

1 (first and foremost) You have to figure out what you need. Do you need CPR/AED AND First Aid? Or just CPR and AED? Do you need Professional certification? Child CPR? There area lot of certificaitons out there, so you want to make sure that you get the one you need.

2 Find out if the places you are planning on working (if that is why you are getting it) take only certain certifications (Red Cross, American Heart Association, etc.) Most gyms that I have seen will NOT take certifications received online.

(Yes, you can get CPR certified online. Go figure.)

3 Find out how long the cert is good for. If you find one class for $50 and the cert is good for a year and another class for $75 and the cert is good for 2 years, you’d save yourself $25 by taking the more expensive class. Not to mention the time.

4 Does the training facility have dummies that you will get to practice on? Do they have AEDs that you will get to practice with? If you are going for a certification for child CPR does the facility have “child” dummies?

5 How long is the training? I have seen two hour ones and eight hour ones.

6 Does the training include information to take home? The first time I was certified I got a couple of booklets and posters and all kinds of information to use as reference material, I got something tonight too, but one of my classmates, who has been certified a few times said she had never before received anything. It is really great to have reference material to look at later.

7 Is the instructor just an instructor or has sh/e been an actual rescue work experience?

NOT ALL CERTIFICATIONS ARE THE SAME, neither are the instructors. Do your homework. Do research online, talk to people who have taken courses, talk to rescue workers—they will have opinions on which course they like best. Its your money and your time and if it is for your job or business it pays to do a little bit of checking first.

6 Responses to “Not All Certifications Are the Same”

  1. You are a certified cutie and you always keep my heart
    beating!

  2. Tutorcare said

    Use the very best instructors who have wealth of knowledge and a relevant occupational background in Health and Safety Training and include Health and Safety in the Workplace Level 1 to 4(CIEH), Hygiene in Health and Social Care (CIEH),and Principles of Risk Assessment Level 2 (CIEH) .

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