Medical, Nursing, Dental, EMT, Radiographers, Phlebotomy, EKG ,EEG, CNA, and MA students: when you need your American Heart Association (AHA) two-year certification in BLS (basic life support) you will greatly benefit from taking your initial and renewal classes in a group environment with an AHA Instructor- led class.
High- quality compressions are critical for the survival of a person in cardiac arrest, but you will learn far more than just how to give high-quality compression in our CPR classes. We work in teams of two providing the life-saving skills of CPR and AED, with minimal interruptions in compressions, and an emphasis on communication skills with your partner. All of your questions will be answered and you will leave with more confidence in an instructor-led class, than by yourself at a business offering a VAM (Voice Assisted Manikin).
A VAM is a manikin connected to a computer that a person has to demonstrate skills for in a room all by themselves. There are no AHA instructors available to help or answer questions, but a customer service agent may be able to help you over the phone. VAM’s are testing stations designed to be a check- off for BLS certification for people who are already proficient with BLS and CPR. There is no practice, but rather just limited feedback from the computer for you to either pass or fail.
There have been many malfunctions of the VAM device reported in Yelp reviews, and even if you are a seasoned medical professional you still might not pass. We certify several people every week who did not pass down the street at our competitor, and they were not given a refund. We feel really bad that people leave with the experience of failing.
Failing is not an option at Revive CPR, as long as you don’t have an injury preventing you from doing compressions we will ensure that you will get enough practice to pass every time. However, we do not just hand-out certificates you will proudly earn your BLS certification with us. People leave our classes with enthusiasm, unlike those coming from a VAM testing location who are often frustrated.
Instructor- led CPR classes place more emphasis on education, and actually saving people’s lives in the real world. Healthcare professionals prefer Instructor- led BLS classes vs. a VAM all by themself.
The truth is that people only tolerate a VAM they don’t prefer it over an Instructor led class at all! The required AHA student surveys that are emailed before certifications are sent will show VAM has an approval rating that is far below the minimum benchmark of an 85% approval rating for AHA Training Sites, whereas, Revive CPR has a satisfaction rating far above this benchmark.
You will leave our BLS class with the confidence to save a persons life that same day! Your skills will be superior to anyone taking their BLS certification with a business offering a VAM. Practicing with a VAM will only at best improve your CPR compression skills.
Someday you just might have fun banging away compressions with a VAM, which is utilized in hospitals and often referred to as an RQI program.
RQI (Resuscitative Quality improvement)
The difference between VAM in business vs. VAM in hospitals.
RQI is a term for hospital Programs utilizing VAM’s to refresh healthcare professionals compression skills either quarterly, or every six months. This provides healthcare professionals a way to keep their certification current for many years. This program lives up to its name with Quality Improvement, as hospitals have a department available for anyone who needs help or has a question. That is a huge difference from being alone in a room with a VAM at a business.
Sadly, there isn’t quality improvement with a business certifying people only once every two years without support, yet they are promoting RQI on their website.
So, VAM is effective for practicing compression skills every six months in hospitals, but is ineffective for an initial BLS certification. This VAM device was never intended to be utilized by students for their initial AHA BLS certification, and there is a high probability that the American heart associatio will soon place a restriction for the use of (out of hospital) VAM devices for renewal certifications only.
After you have been certified in an Instructor-led, live class two or three times before there will be a great benefit to working with a VAM in a hospital. There will be a department that can help you when you have questions.
Medical, Dental, Nursing, EMT, and students in all other medical areas, we encourage you to Use our Promo code Revive25 and receive $8 off of our in person skills session. we hope to see you soon at our AHA training center in San Francisco www.revivecpr.com
Many AHA Training centers and Training sites now offer hybrid courses that are completed in two parts:
Part one-completed online at your home, or office at your own pace (45 minutes- two hours).
Part two – completed with an AHA instructor- led skills session (one-hour).
Traditional classroom courses are still available when we teach groups on-site at their business location, but at 148 Townsend St. in San francisco we are specializing in one-hour Instructor- led skills sessions.
This new blended learning format minimizes your time in the classroom to only one hour, so your attention is focused more on saving lives, and less on the clock.
Revive CPR training, San Francisco
