CPR Card Fraud is Big Business: One Benefit of E-Cards

Updated 2-14-18:  We are pleased to announce that we plan to be the first in our area to transition fully to AHA e-cards.  We have been working hard to make this a reality and help in the fight against card fraud and eliminate the inconvenience of card loss.  We have already transitioned at the BLS, ACLS, PALS and Heartsaver FA+CPR levels; only Heartsaver AED+CPR is still using up a stock of hard cards before making the switch.  E-cards are a digital copy sent to the participants email address and, after filling out a brief survey, the card can be displayed on the participant's phone, printed off, emailed to employers or others who need to see a participant's proof of training.

We've been around long enough to have seen it just about everything when it comes to attempts to manipulate certification cards.  AHA really does a real pretty good job of staying ahead of it by changing card features and requirements every few years to make them harder and harder to tamper with because people continue to try.  What always surprises us is when highly educated individuals wind up in the middle of AHA card fraud, with a record with the Board of Nursing that follows them through their career.  Here are a few examples where the ensuing investigations involved our cooperation because our business reputation was too important.

This is one example where one of our customers actually took a BLS for Healthcare Providers class with us back in 2011 and could be verified.  Instead of retaking it every two years as required by the AHA, she took an ink pen and changed the dates on her card by two years.  She made it appear that the 2011 date was a 2013 date and the expiration date went from 2013 to 2015.  What she didn't know is that during that timeframe, we changed our name and just about everyone in OKC knew that also...including her new employer who, in turn, contacted us.  This kind of thing is also one of the reasons that all our cards were being distributed 100% typewritten by the time she attempted to pass this card off as legitimate.  

The examples above were provided by an RN to a travel agency but we have never had this person in a single class, ever in our history in business.  Aside from the obvious questions that come to mind about how a person can attend BLS at one location as well as the lengthy disciplines of ACLS and PALS at another on the exact same day, it's obvious that someone provided her with their certification cards who had taken classes with us, which she then whited out the dates on because by these dates we had changed our name and were typewriting all cards.  She took no responsibility, blaming her old employer for "mixing up the files", and then the "unorganized people" at the new travel agency,  played the sympathy card by telling us how rough her life had been the last couple of years implying that made her have less time and money to actually take the required training, but she wouldn't give up who had allowed her to use their cards.  She didn't get the travel job but that was just the beginning.  A few weeks later, she had applied with a different travel agency, who attempted to register her for classes with us which they were going to pay for on her behalf; we refunded their money and had to tell them that we wouldn't accept her into our classes on the grounds of personal integrity as we didn't want our name associated with this individual in any way.  She lost that job opportunity too, but it still doesn't end there.  A couple of months passed and she called us directly and attempted to register herself for ACLS and PALS as if none of this history existed.  We recognized the name and again refused to accept her registration on the same grounds.  She begged and said she "heard we are the best and most patient at teaching this stuff" and she can't find work now without ACLS and PALS, which now she fears she's become somewhat rusty.  She still didn't give up who let her use their cards fraudulently nor did she take any responsibility for the mess she found herself in, so we didn't change our position regarding doing business with this 

individual.

The card pictured above is another RN who also took a class with us and, rather than getting recertified in two years as is required of everyone, whited out our typewritten 2014 date and hand-writing over it with a 2016 date, then showed it to a temporary medical staffing agency where she was being hired; she lost that job as a result.  During this timeframe, the AHA actually underwent a change in card style as they do periodically to improve fraud detection features.  Additionally, most of the hospitals, schools, staffing and travel agencies know us well and have us regularly verify training for applicants so we're always confounded that anyone thinks they can actually get away with this.

Most recently, an LPN took a class with us, signed in on our roster, paid like everyone else she attended with, and left here with her certification card in hand.  She then disputed the charge with her bank, stating that she hadn't received anything or couldn't remember what the charge on her card was; believing that perhaps it was an honest mistake, we emailed, texted, called, sent Facebook messages and letters through the mail...all of which she ignored, despite being quite "chatty" back and forth prior to class via some of these same methods and posting frequently to social media, although changing her online presence to remove her last name as if to hide.  Besides her employer being notified that she's in possession of an AHA card that was obtained fraudulently, the Board of Nursing is now investigating and since it's not her first infraction and she's been on probation before, she's likely going to lose her nursing license besides having a police record.  It will cost us far more in the long run than the $70 we lost on the class in time spent trying to track her down and reporting it, but we don't want someone working in America's most trusted profession as a nurse with the most vulnerable members of society who possesses a lack of integrity and the belief that theft is permissible.  

The Board of Nursing feels pretty strongly about these things because they are responsible for policing a profession that is trusted like few others.  Saving a little money and/or a few hours is never, ever worth the consequences.  A nursing license takes too much work to obtain to lose over such stupidity; a reputation may never be repaired once the decision is made to sacrifice one's integrity.  We believe that the vast majority of our customers take this to heart and live this way, so we spend most of our time sharing their stories and successes, thankfully.  

Instructors should also posses integrity.  We are aware of those that are teaching classes lasting about 1/4 of the time actually required at about half the cost of what AHA training actually costs because the mandatory materials aren't being provided or used.  We have customers tell us all the time about those that are doing little more than spending less an hour telling stories and selling certification cards, mostly because those customers have thought through the consequences should something "bad happen" on their watch and their training records be investigated; would they be held responsible because they "knew better"?  These are the customers that align with our values...not those that just want the cheapest, shortest class they can get without materials, manikins or hands-on practice.  Quality matters when the rubber meets the road.  Will those stories from that cheap, short "class" help you save a child in your care?  Can you live with yourself if not?  Integrity guides every decision we make and influences our every action as a company.   Integrity matters...Pass it on!

#cprcardfraud #smallbusiness #cpr #aha

- Ginger Davis

Heartland CPR, llc

405-603-6666

www.HeartlandCPR.com