I have been teaching CPR classes for almost a year now and one thing never ceases to amaze me. I find that a large portion of the people I teach just do not seem to care. Why you ask? Because they do not get how important it is for community and personal health. The challenge I have comes in passing an individual who has taken the course, passed the written and has performed decently on the practical, but I wouldn't trust with my own life. How can I give them a card that says they can treat others when I would rather have someone without any training treat me over them? It is a difficult question and one that I ask myself every class. I think I am a pretty tough CPR instructor. I do not pass you if I think you are not going to perform well in the field and I certainly do not go over the answers with people during the test. If someone has a question or the class is stumped on a few questions, sure, I am more than happy to help and explain the answer if need be, but I am hard pressed to stand in front of the class and have everyone answer. I would rather see on an individual basis how people perform. I think I get the most exacerbated sighs when I say, "ok everyone, take a 10 minute break, then we are going to practice doing all the steps over again", but why is this different than any other class? I want my class to have as much hands-on training as possible and if that means pushing them to perform practicals over and over again, then yes, I am going to push you. I do not let the video do the instructing, it gives a good background to help answer questions on a test, but I do not want my class to just get 100% on the written, I want them getting 100% on the practical.
I have given my perspective on my classes, but I have not truly answered my question, why don't people care about CPR? Well, they do, it is just that they need to be motivated. There will always be a student who is taking the class because they feel they have to or are "forced" to and will take it out on you; However, there is also a large portion of people who want nothing more than to be a driving force for community health in society and if you make the course interesting, hands-on, and fast paced, they are going to enjoy every ounce of that class. My new resolution for the year is to not just teach CPR, but to TEACH CPR, that means pushing my students to bring 150% to each class in exchange for my putting in 200%. I will stay after for remediation, I will go over questions as long as you need to pass, but I will not pass you if you are not comfortable performing CPR. This is not just any skill, this is a life saving skill and we should treat it as such not only as instructors, but as students. My best to all those who work hard at this job, and to those who are feeing run down or unmotivated to teach, here is my advice...you bring 200% to each class and I assure you, the majority of your students are going to give the same or at least 150% back. Believe in your students and they will trust you as an instructor.
