Life-Saving Training Blog

Sometimes the SEE was witnessed by an entire organization’s membership as in the initial graduation scenario discussed. Consider all those who watched the NFL game where Buffalo Bills Safety Damar Hamlin had a sudden cardiac arrest after being struck in the chest. That tragedy was certainly a discussion in the media for the next few days. Fortunately, the AHA, ECSI, and others were in the position to educate many people and advocate for CPR and AEDs after Hamlin’s successful resuscitation. 

Are You Ready for a Surge in CPR Training Requests?
The real question here is are you, and your local Education Center, prepared to meet a sudden surge in requests for training?

I was previously in a situation where there was a surge for community CPR training, and the local Education Centers were already busy with barely enough instructors. Of course, we did the best we could under the circumstances, but some of the training needs simply were not addressed. Taking too long can translate into missed opportunities.

Some Education Centers focus on training professional rescuers and healthcare providers rather than community members. While hands-only CPR courses have improved accessibility, they are tailored for adult patients. Becoming a CPR or First Aid instructor often involves extensive training aimed at high-level providers, not citizens who want to help family and friends. Although faculty training for EMTs and Paramedics has advanced, community CPR instructors should have a shorter, more accessible program. Many potential instructors, like teachers and scout leaders, lack the time or funds for courses designed for higher-level providers.

The ECs are usually located in population centers and tend to be associated with hospitals, community colleges and large ambulance services and fire departments. In the rural areas, there often are very few available courses because the nearest Training Center is 100 miles away! Once again, when there is a surge of interest in community CPR and/or FA training these organizations and their instructors often do not travel well. The net result is another missed opportunity. In many cases there is either a need for an ECs in these current “training deserts” or more instructors that work for the existing ECs in the more remote locations.

What is ECSI Doing to Help?
The ECSI Instructor Development Course (IDC) has been completely remodeled. The result is a leaner, more focused course that can be accomplished in 6-7 hours. The course is designed to prepare instructor candidates to become confident, effective, empathetic, and flexible instructors for any of ECSI’s provider courses. The IDC is facilitated by an ECSI Instructor Trainer and hosted in-person at an ECSI Education Center. The IDC is made up of three components: 

• Instructor Development Orientation (2.5 to 3 hours) – The IDO is a lecture-based component that highlights ECSI course planning, course facilitation, and hands-on skills coaching; adult learning styles and training methodologies; instructor responsibilities; ECSI policies, procedures and processes. The EC’s Instructor Trainer would present the program face-to-face although an online version may be developed in the future. 

• Education Center Orientation (2.5 to 3 hours) – The ECO is a lecture-and tour-based component of the IDC that highlights education center responsibilities and administrative functions; facility-specific assets and equipment; instructor support essentials; ECSI provider course rosters and facilitation. The EC’s Instructor Trainer will present facility-specific details and also lead a tour of the facility. 

• Monitored Teaching Experience (1 hour per participant) – The MTE is an application-based component of the IDC that required Instructor Candidates to apply the knowledge they learned in the IDO and ECO by teaching at least two relevant course topics in an actual ECSI provider course. Instructor Candidates will receive feedback on their teaching performance and will be required to pass with a score of 80%.

Completion of the IDC or any of its components does not automatically qualify the participant as an ECSI Instructor. Upon successful completion of the three IDC components, Instructor Candidates will receive a course completion certificate which can be used to apply for ECSI Instructor status. Once submitted and approved, Instructor Status will be granted. The revised IDC is now available for preorder and should be available on July 10, 2025.

What Can Education Centers Do to Meet Training Surges?
We live in a world where people can get a meal delivered to their front door on an app. They can interact with a physician if they have a medical question or concern on their smart phone. These same people do not have the patience for a response to a training organization, when they finally get through on the phone, which is “someone will get back to you next week.” To be prepared for training surges you need to review your EC’s mission and then ask yourself a few questions:  

• Does your Education Center have a regular schedule of courses that people can place into? 

• Are your courses focused on the needs of the community or simply geared to healthcare providers and emergency responders? 

• Are you willing to go to the customers or do you just do training at your site? 

• If your organization is simply not prepared to deal with a surge, are you willing to refer customers to another Education Center, if there is one nearby? 

• Do you have enough instructors to call upon when someone gets sick or there is a surge? 

• How do you promote your training? Word of mouth…based on quality experiences being shared…lucky you. Consider social media promoting your courses or the availability of the training. Be careful not to use photos of customers without their permission. 

To meet the challenge of a surge in the requests for training in your community, your Education Centers need to have the ability to quickly mobilize instructors and resources. Sometimes the sudden interest is in response to an incident, and you need to be able to either offer a course, take a course to the customer’s neighborhood or office or send an instructor or representative to meet with the group to set up training in the very near future. Remember life moves fast and the high interest today does shift to the backburner as days go by and the interest wanes. 

In Summary
A couple of comments for your consideration:

• When there is a significant emotional event in your community, don’t be surprised by a training surge. 

• To be prepared for training surges you need to first review your current Education Center’s mission. 

• Start planning now because that surge is always just around the corner!  

• ECs need to be flexible, available, reasonably priced, and willing to meet customers where they are (not just at your training center which may be many miles away from the customers).  

• It should not be unusual for an EC to send a qualified instructor to bring community training to the basement of a church or an office or worksite during lunch or shift change.  

• Have regularly scheduled courses and don’t just have a token community course during CPR Week! 

• Look into the updated ECSI Instructor Development Course to see if your Education Center can use more faculty. 

• As always, be careful out there!