CPR for Construction

STS CPR San Francisco will assist you with federal and California OSHA compliance and other safety training requirements.  Safety compliance does not have to be expensive and time consuming – we make safety affordable and won’t waste your time.  The CPR School’s employee health and safety training programs are designed to provide your business with everything necessary for Safety Training and Compliance.  On site training courses anywhere in the state of California.

From small businesses to large corporations we can help with all of your safety needs.  All California and San Francisco companies can reduce costs and minimize risk exposure while improving employee morale with STS CPR Safety Certification Training Programs.  Compare and save.  When you perform a cost benefit analysis, comparing in-house training provided by Safety Training Seminars CPR San Francisco versus sending your staff to an outside training site or using expensive "non-profit" agencies for training you can easily save your organization 25% of your annual safety training budget!

Workplace Medical Emergencies happen every day and we can prepare your staff for these medical emergencies.  Our CPR, First Aid and AED classes are both educational and fun. Our philosophy is that learning should be fun. We feel that if you have fun, laugh and the CPR class is interesting you will enjoy yourself and will absorb and retain the material better. Another major difference, all of our instructors have actually performed CPR, First Aid and used AEDs on real people. Not all instructors have real world CPR First Aid AED experience, they simply read about CPR and First Aid in a book. We believe real world experience makes for a better instructor and believe you will too.  All of our courses are designed to comply with the most current OSHA regulations.  We offer onsite group safety training classes at your business or you can attend one of our group classes held at our Concord/Walnut Creek or San Francisco classroom.

What medical emergencies does your CPR AED First Aid Safety class cover?  
Our CPR AED and First Aid certified classes cover emergency medical care for a variety of different emergencies and life saving techniques including:
Legal/Ethical Concerns, Bloodborne Pathogens, Calling 911 and Emergency Medical Services, Scene Management and Patient Assessment, Bleeding, Cuts and Shock, Burns, Falls, Sudden Cardiac Arrest and Heart Attack, Drowning, Eye Injuries, Head and Face Injuries, Injuries to Muscles, Bones and Joints, Allergic Reactions and Respiratory Emergencies, Diabetic Emergencies, Seizures and Strokes, Heat Exhaustion and Hypothermia, Poisonings and Overdoses and a variety of other medical emergencies.

In addition to first aid treatment for medical emergencies what else do you cover?  Our classes are student driven.  By this I mean no 2 classes are alike.  We encourage the students to talk about medical emergencies that they have seen either on the job or at home.  We discuss proper treatment for these emergencies, what to do, and what not to do.  We go through many different scenarios and we also stress accident prevention.  As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.  Often we discover safety concerns that management was unaware of.  Through our classroom discussions, management is then able to take action to correct any safety issues.

How often should CPR and First Aid training occur?  
The old expression use it or lose it comes to mind.  The American Heart Association CPR AED and First Aid certification cards are valid for a period of 2 years.  Every 2 years may be sufficient for the actual training classes but safety drills, similar to the fire drills we had in school should be conducted on a regular basis.  These drills apply what was learned in the classroom to real life scenarios that can occur on the job site.

What about a first aid kit?  
A good first aid kit is very important however it does not necessarily mean signing an expensive service contract to fill your first aid kit or wall mounted first aid cabinet with overpriced bandages and aspirin.  In fact, I discourage having OTC medications in the company first aid kit.  Keeping your first aid kit simple is often best.  In addition to your PPE listed above you will want bandages, medical tape, burn gel, eye wash and an assortment of band aids in various sizes.  The items you include in your first aid kit may vary depending on the size of your business, what special hazards may be present and the number of people at your location.

First off, what is sudden cardiac arrest?  
Sudden cardiac arrest is caused by a life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm that can result from heart attack, respiratory arrest, drowning, electrocution, choking, trauma or it can have no known cause and it can happen to anyone regardless of age or gender.  

When we talk about electrocution this could be caused by lightning striking you or the equipment you are operating or it could be electrocution from a power line or motor.  Any type of electricity entering your body could cause you to go into cardiac arrest.

In most instances to restart the heart you will need an AED or Automated External Defibrillator.  Unlike the defibrillators with the paddles you see on TV, the AEDs that are in many public places such as airports, marinas, shopping malls, churches, health clubs, golf and tennis clubs and schools are safe to use.  These AEDs are designed to only shock dead people.  By this I mean that these public access defibrillators or AED’s will not shock a living breathing person.  They are designed to only shock people that are no longer breathing.  This means that you can’t connect someone up to this AED and shock them unless they are no longer breathing and in 2 unique types of heart rhythms.  

What is an Automated External Defibrillator or AED?
An Automated External Defibrillator or AED is a portable, battery operated electronic device about the size of a laptop computer.  The AED automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a victim and is able to treat the patient by an electrical shock which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to re-establish an effective rhythm.  AEDs are designed to be simple so that anyone can use one.  So simple that I often start my CPR AED classes by selecting someone from the class that has never seen an AED and I ask them to demonstrate how to use an AED by following the AEDs voice instructions.  To date, the youngest person to effectively demonstrate the AED in one of my classes was 9 years old.

Should we have an AED at our construction site?
My answer is always “Yes”.  According to the American Heart Association, sudden cardiac arrest claims about 340,000 lives each year – or around 1,000 every day in the United States. Sudden cardiac arrest, which is the leading cause of death in the United States.  Cardiac arrest kills more people than breast cancer, lung cancer, and AIDS combined. Currently 95 percent of all cardiac arrest victims die. 

Simply put, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) save lives.  Would you spend $2,000 if it saved an employees?  The answer is obviously yes.  You have smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, security cameras and other systems to save property why not put something in place that saves lives. 

Think about this, how many fire extinguishers does your company own?  Fire extinguishers are designed to save property whereas an AED saves lives.  We all know that life safety is much more important than saving property.

What does OSHA indicate about AEDs?
"Because the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) can save the lives of workers who experience cardiac arrest while on the job, OSHA today encouraged employers to consider making this equipment available in their workplace."
- US Department of Labor, Office of Public Affairs, Dec. 17, 2001

What about Federal Laws regarding the use of AEDs?
The Cardiac Arrest Survival Act (CASA) of 2000 is our nation's first legislation recognizing the lifesaving role played by automated external defibrillators (AEDs).  The law highlights the need to make AEDs accessible to anyone who has had proper training, not just professional medical personnel.  The law protects trained AED users from liability, and also protects any person who has maintained the device, provided training, tested the device or acquired it.  The law also augments existing state "Good Samaritan" laws by ensuring federal liability protection for trained users and purchasers of AEDs.

What type of training is required to use an AED?
AEDs are designed to be very simple to use.  However, this is a race against time.  For every minute we delay shocking our victim their chance of survival drops 10%.  Training increases speed, confidence and efficiency.   I suggest working with a professional trainer that has real life experience using CPR and AEDs on real people.  An instructor that can work with your staff to answer any and all questions.  Someone that can create realistic training scenarios to use during class and most importantly someone that can make your staff comfortable using their new skills.  You don’t want an instructor that scares or confuses them.  Look for a full time, insured professional that knows AEDs, CPR and First Aid.

What are the odds of my company using an AED?
In August of 2003, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) conducted a survey.  Of the 400 members surveyed 34% that implemented an AED program used the AED at least once to help save a life.  Of those people in cardiac arrest, 66% were revived by the AED.

Why use Safety Training Seminars CPR San Francisco CPR and First Aid Training Classes?
We offer American Heart Association, ASHI and ECSI CPR, First Aid and AED training certification classes at your location. What sets us apart from the others……….Our CPR, First Aid and AED classes are both educational and fun. Our philosophy is that learning does not have to be painfully boring. We feel that if you have fun, laugh and the CPR class is interesting you will enjoy yourself and will absorb and retain the material better.