Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) continues to be a leading cause of death for adults in the United States. This gruesome statistic continues despite astronomical COVID-19 deaths. Over the past three years, during the COVID-19 global pandemic, SCD is still at the top of the list of adult killers in the US. For the past 60 years, CPR training and CPR performance have been shown to save lives. CPR improves survival rates for SCA victims. CPR training and certification, while having changed over the years, continue to be effective in helping save lives.
The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic changed training and education paradigms in the United States and around the world. More and more online and virtual learning options including CPR training, have become more common. Some companies and organizations accept fully online classes that are not in any way, accredited or endorsed by the American Heart Association (AHA), Red Cross or the Health and Safety Institute. The American Heart Association, The American Red Cross and The Health and Safety Institute do not offer fully online certification courses.
Let’s look at the difference between fully Online CPR classes vs Blended CPR classes.
Online CPR
Fully Online CPR courses are tempting. Admittedly, a less expensive online course that can be completed while watching TV, chatting with friends, and folding laundry, is attractive. Online courses provide course information that may or may not be correct, or even current. As tempting as fully online CPR courses are, online courses, by their nature, don’t offer the student the chance to physically practice on a manikin. Physical practice with manikins is required by the AHA and Red Cross. They do not afford the student the experience, firsthand, of how difficult effective CPR compressions really are.
Internet websites claim that fully online classes are legitimate and follow American Heart Association and Red Cross guidelines is simply incorrect. Again – The Red Cross and The American Heart Association don’t offer fully online class certifications. Not offering them, shows the AHA and Red Cross do not approve of them through a competing organization.
Blended CPR Training
The American Heart Association and Red Cross do offer “Blended training”, where students complete online work prior to a hands-on session with an authorized instructor. The Red Cross and The American Heart Association seem to encourage this mode of training. Some companies and organizations accept this mode of training. Blended training does require some in-person physical work. While Georgia CPR does not endorse or encourage blended training, it is an AHA, Red Cross-approved training method.
At the end of the day, comparing online CPR classes vs blended CPR classes is like comparing a basketball video game, to playing basketball on a court, with a ball. There’s no comparison. When you visit your Doctor, would you prefer they complete their CPR in-person, or online?