Pandemic Survival Kits

 Need a quick gift for a Dirty Santa exchange? How about the mail person, delivery driver, or other essential worker in your life?  For just $20, you can pick up a Pandemic Survival Kit in a cute bag filled with the essentials...a mask, lanyard, hand sanitizer, a bath bomb, earplugs, a head massager, and of course a roll of toilet paper.  The bag is big enough to add a bottle of wine or some chocolate or whatever you'd like to make it even more personal.  

Stop by and pick up one from our office 10-4 Monday through Friday.  Or we can ship to you for an additional $5.  Merry Christmas!

#pandemicsurvivalkit #smallbusiness #cpr #aha

- Ginger Davis

Heartland CPR, llc

405-603-6666

www.HeartlandCPR.com

Frontline Fighters Scholarships

Many in our communities are looking for ways to give back to our frontline healthcare professionals and, while food deliveries are great, we have an idea that will last long after the next meal is served.  How about pre-paying for the required training of a healthcare professional?  These professionals have to recertify every two years at a minimum in CPR (known as BLS Provider); many, depending on specialty or area of expertise, also have to take ACLS and/or PALS as well.  Heartland CPR presents the “pay it forward” frontline fighter scholarship that allows appreciative community members to pre-pay for a healthcare professional’s training - either by assigning that payment to a particular individual - or by letting us apply it on a first donated-first requested basis.  We’ll let you know how your $100 training “scholarship” was used and who the recipient was (if you haven't pre-selected); likewise, we’ll let the recipient know who funded their training (unless they prefer to remain anonymous, of course).  

Heartland CPR wants to help be part of the solution to keep our healthcare professionals trained and working on the front lines and let them know how very appreciated they are in their communities!  Reach out to us if this program is of interest to you or your place of business.  Thanks for choosing Heartland CPR!

#payitforward #scholarship #smallbusiness #cpr #aha

- Ginger Davis
Heartland CPR, llc
405-603-6666
www.HeartlandCPR.com

Online Tutorial: Choking

While we've been working less during this statewide shutdown, Heartland CPR's instructors and staff still been busy.  Devin has produced a couple of videos to help you learn a life-saving skill or use for a lesson with the kids who are also learning from home.  How would you respond if a friend or family member choked?  What if you began choking and you were alone?

Choking Tutorial

We hope this video gives you the basic skills to assist someone - or even yourself - should the need arise.  

#choking #firstaid #smallbusiness #cpr #aha

- Ginger Davis

Heartland CPR, llc

405-603-6666

www.HeartlandCPR.com

Buzzword: Essential

We hear a lot about essential and non-essential lately, don't we?  While some of us are enjoying time off, working from home in our pajamas, or helping our kids with homework, others of us to include our team of instructors which are EMS and healthcare professionals, are fighting this COVID-19 battle on the front lines of a hospital or in a supporting role such as grocery store workers, food runners, truck drivers, utility employees, or countless other fields that keep America moving.

Heartland CPR remains open during this shutdown since we serve an essential industry, but have suffered about 50% loss of business the past month with classes cancelling or planning to reschedule once life returns to normal.  For a small business, this is devastating.  Depending on which study you read, you've probably read that somewhere between 25% and 70% of small businesses will not survive once the economy reopens.  That's terrifying!  We want to be one of them and continue to serve our loyal customer base; implications to mental health and financial losses/bankrupcy historically follow closely behind similar disruptions.  We also want to do our part to help those essential healthcare and support workers by offering a 10% discount for those that choose to get certified or keep their training current during the restricted timeframe.  Simply enter the coupon code "ESSENTIAL" on our website when you register to automatically get the discounted rate (it is currently set to expire in May but may be extended as the situation dictates).  It helps us keep our instructors working and pay our rent; it helps you stay certified to work or allows you to use some unexpected time off to accomplish something you needed to get done anyway.  Win/win!

Rest assured we have implemented many safeguards including enhanced cleaning of surfaces and manikins, no longer allow the sharing of manikins with 1:1 ratios, capped classes to keep them even smaller and added more choices, instituted "touchless payments" from a customer's device, rearranged our training area to allow for social distancing, are requiring customer participation in hand-washing and sanitizing throughout our classes, and encouraging customers to wear whatever protective wear they feel comfortable with to include masks, gloves, or other protective gear.

We hope you'll consider small, locally-owned businesses first to spend your hard-earned money with when life returns to normal.  I can assure you, as a small family business, it is much appreciated.  We hope to be around to service Oklahoma's training needs well into the future once we and our fellow small businesses survive this bump in the road.  Shop small!

#essential #smallbusiness #cpr #aha

- Ginger Davis
Heartland CPR, llc
405-603-6666
www.HeartlandCPR.com

Online Tutorial: Hands-Only CPR Demonstration

Have you got cabin fever yet?  If you're going stir crazy, why don't you put your mandated time at home to good use by learning a skill that could save a friend, coworker, or family member?  Our lead instructor, Devin, used one day stuck at home to make a video to demonstrate the most important skill you may ever learn.

With under ten minutes of your time, Heartland CPR can teach you something that could save a life one day!  Come on, we know you have the time!

#handsonlycpr #smallbusiness #cpr #aha

- Ginger Davis

Heartland CPR, llc

405-603-6666

www.HeartlandCPR.com

What Are We Doing About the Coronavirus?

We know you're concerned about the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.  We want to address what we're doing differently to combat the spread of this highly contagious virus.

First and foremost, please be assured that we are enhancing our cleaning procedures both behind the scenes as well as within our classes.  In addition to the cleaning and sanitizing of manikins, masks, and surfaces which primarily takes place before and after classes, extra measures will be visible within your class(es) with Heartland CPR.  An additional notice will appear on all reservations going forward that states:

Coronavirus/COVID19 Update:

We are owned by and employ healthcare professionals that are at the center of the coronavirus information flow. We are closely monitoring the situation and taking necessary precautions. You will notice additional cleaning measures at classes and be asked to do your part by washing hands and using sanitizers at different intervals throughout. Please DO NOT attend if you are symptomatic but do let us know so we can reschedule you for a later date. We will be more flexible with customers who need to move their training due to illness or concern, but please understand that we cannot waive the AHA requirements regarding expired certifications so it’s strongly advised that you recertify early or it may be necessary to switch from a refresher to a full class after expiration. 

Additionally, we are moving to "touchless payments" during this time. Please use the black payment button to make your your payment from your computer/device prior to class attendance.

We appreciate your help in stopping the spread of this public health threat.

Our instructors and personnel are empowered to ask anyone who appears to be ill to leave and not train with or be in close proximity to other customers or our personnel.  We will help them reschedule by phone or email so as to limit face to face interaction.  We will have hand soap, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, gloves, and one-way valves readily available and require all participants to make use of these while training with us.

We're going above and beyond the directives and recommendations for our industry to ensure that we help stop the spread of this highly contagious virus within our community.  Even though we...and you, our customers...may be healthy, those we come into contact with may not be so fortunate and the most vulnerable among us need our help right now.

#covidprecautions #smallbusiness #cpr #aha

- Ginger Davis
Heartland CPR, llc
405-603-6666
www.HeartlandCPR.com

ACLS and PALS Learning Tools Available

At the request of our clientele, Heartland CPR has developed a set of EKG Rhythm Strip flashcards for use when studying for those complicated advanced disciplines.  Our customers regularly tell us that the rhythm portion of the class is what they are the most nervous about and many reach back out to us after their class to tell us that they finally understand them when they never have before despite numerous classes over the years.  One of the tools we use are laminated examples and decision flow charts specifically designed to help identify the blocks, almost universally considered to be the most difficult.

We now have available for purchase complete sets of these rhythm strip flashcards to help our customers study and quiz themselves on these EKG rhythms.  If you'd like to purchase a set, they're $20 and in stock at our office.

Always looking for new and inventive ways to help our customers, we hope this is a game-changer for those required to take ACLS and/or PALS!

#acls #pals #rhythmrecognition #smallbusiness #cpr #aha

- Ginger Davis
Heartland CPR, llc
405-603-6666
www.HeartlandCPR.com

Merry Christmas!

During this season of thanksgiving,, we are especially thankful for our loyal customers and grateful for a team that  represents us so well.  In 2018, Heartland CPR celebrated 15 years in business and we were honored to share the celebration with a few special customers that go back many, many years and have been witness to our growth over the years.  During the month of December, we are offering gift certificates which can be used for training, first aid kits (four sizes available as well as a pet-specific kit), or any emergency supplies that we stock at 10% off face value, good through 2020…the perfect gift for the nurse, EMT, babysitter, grandparent, or new parents on your Christmas list!  For the really difficult to buy for, consider the  life-saving gift of an AED from the entire family!  We can help with all that and, really, what other gift will still be giving for a lifetime moreso than something that has the potential to save the life of a loved one?

Since 2003, Heartland CPR, llc (formerly Custom Training Solutions) has been providing AHA training in CPR, AED use, First Aid, BLS (Basic Life Support) Provider, ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support) and PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support). At the request of our customers, in 2013, we began selling several affordable, quality brands of AEDs and accessories as well as adding a variety of well-stocked first aid kits and emergency supplies;. In 2014, we introduced our “STAT Program”, allowing healthcare professionals to obtain or renew certification in multiple disciplines in a couple of days using sequential scheduling, discount packages, and by partnering with a nearby luxury hotel that offers a corporate rate to our customers who need to stay overnight, and we added “The PET (Pet Emergency Training) Project” to our class lineup.  We began 2015 in a new suite decorated like an antique medical museum with a full-time office staff assisting our customers during 10-4 business hours in addition to our team of instructors teaching varied shifts virtually 24/7; additionally we began offering a free First Aid + CPR class using our equipment and expertise to teach life-saving skills to those wishing to learn for their own peace of mind but not in need of an official, costly AHA certification.  We volunteered to be first in this region when AHA introduced the option for e-cards in early 2018, eliminating lost/damaged cards which are costly to replace and that has been well-received by our customers. We firmly believe that doing what everyone else does gets you what everyone else gets, so we set out from the beginning and continue to do things differently than the rest…from straight-forward, all-inclusive pricing and issuing immediate certifications to how we go about selecting the instructors that represent us.

What began as a small home business with husband and wife instructors is now a registered, small woman-owned business with an A+ rating which has been recognized by the BBB as the 2014 Torch Award winner for the small business category in the OKC area and has received multiple “Best of OKC” awards”. We have hundreds of positive reviews on virtually every online forum and social media platform averaging 5 stars across all channels.  Heartland CPR’s owner, Ginger Davis, participated in the SBA’s “Emerging Leaders”program alongside the best and brightest CEOs in the state of Oklahoma, while Brian Davis was recognized as a “Dinosaur of EMS” for his longevity in emergency medicine, having served in virtually every capacity and agency in the OKC metro EMS system during his 30+ year career.  We continue to add outstanding instructors to our team based on character traits that embody Heartland CPR’s mission and vision; we are proud to retain some of the most respected professionals in their fields who have been saving lives for decades and together boast of combined training and instruction expertise of over 90 years!

We invite you to visit our website www.HeartlandCPR.com to learn more, contact us to schedule the next training session for your group or inquire about adding a life-saving AED to your business, church, club, organization, or home. We sincerely appreciate the trust you’ve placed in us, and thank you for your continued support!  It has been our sincere pleasure to be your choice for American Heart Association related training. Whether we provide training at your location or you refer individuals to classes held at ours, please know that you have played a part in our growth and success. There is perhaps no better time to say a heartfelt “thank you” to each of you than during this holiday season as we reflect on the blessings we have been entrusted with.

Wishing you a blessed Christmas and a prosperous year ahead!

#giftcertificate #smallbusiness #cpr #aha

What Sets Us Apart From the Rest of the Pack?

Heartland CPR has become the training choice for quality American Heart Association training in Oklahoma.  We've been in business since 2003 and celebrate a couple of decades of serving Oklahoma with excellence and integrity.  

We are proud of the painstaking process we use to carefully select and retain the absolute best and brightest minds in EMS on our staff of AHA Instructors, and then spend a good deal of time training each of them on the methodology that has made us so successful.  Together our team of instructors have in excess of 100 years of experience teaching AHA course materials.  You're in good hands with Heartland CPR!

#experience #instructors #smallbusiness #cpr #aha

- Ginger Davis
Heartland CPR, llc
405-603-6666
www.HeartlandCPR.com

October is SCA Awareness Month

The month of October is recognized as Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness month.  The AHA and SCAFoundation publish statistics related to SCA in the US which many find surprising.  "Among adults treated by EMS, 25% had no symptoms before the onset of arrest."  While SCA is more common among adults...and more commonly in need of a shock from an AED...than children, it can happen at any time anywhere to anyone.  Consider how often it happens at home or with bystanders present in a public setting and make sure you're prepared with the knowledge skills, (and AED if indicated) to help save a life!

Adults

• Estimates suggest the incidence of OHCA among adults is 347,322.
• Overall, survival to hospital admission after EMS-treated non-traumatic cardiac OHCA was 29%, with higher survival rates in public places (39.5%) and lower survival rates in homes/residences (27.5%) and nursing homes (18.2%)
• Survival to hospital discharge was 10.8% among adults (9% with good neurological function).
• Large regional variations in survival to hospital discharge (range, 3.4%-22%) and survival with functional recovery (range, 0.8%-20.1%) are observed in 132 counties in the U.S. Variations in the rates of layperson CPR explained much of this variation.
• Among adults treated by EMS, 25% had no symptoms before the onset of arrest.
• The majority of OHCA’s occur at a home or residence (68.5%), followed by public settings (21%) and nursing homes (10.5%).
• Cardiac arrest was witnessed by a bystander in 37% of cases, and an EMS provider in 12% of cases. For 51% of cases, the collapse was not witnessed.
• Among EMS-treated OHCA patients, 19.8% had an initial rhythm (Ventricular Fibrillation or Ventricular Tachycardia) that is shockable by an automated external defibrillator (AED).
• Among 10.9 million registered participants in 40 marathons and 19 half-marathons, the overall incidence of cardiac arrest was 0.54 per 100,000 participants. Those with cardiac arrests were more often male and were running a marathon versus a half-marathon. Among runners with cardiac arrest, 71% died; those who died were younger (39+9) than those who survived 49+10).

Children

• Estimates suggest the incidence of EMS-assessed OHCA among children (<18 years of age) is 7,037.
• Survival to hospital discharge was 10.7% among children (8.2% with good neurological function).
• The location of EMS-treated OHCA was at home for 89.5% of children <1 years old, 77% of children 1-12 years old, and 72.9% for children 13-18 years old.
• The most common causes of SCD among young athletes are hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (36%), coronary artery abnormalities (19%), myocarditis (7%), arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (5%), coronary artery disease (4%), and commotio cordis (3%).
• The incidence of SCD was 0.24 per 100,000 athlete years in high school athletes screened every three years between 1993 and 2012 in Minnesota.
• The incidence of non-traumatic OHCA was 1 per 43,770 athlete participant-years among students 17-24 years old participating in NCAA sports from 2004-2008. The incidence of cardiac arrest was higher among blacks than among whites and among males than among females.

Risks

• A family history of cardiac arrest in a first-degree relative is associated with an ~2-fold increased risk of cardiac arrest.
• According to 2017 figures from the CDC, SCD appears among the multiple causes of death on 13.5% of death certificates, which suggests that 1 of every 7.4 people in the U.S. will die of SCD. Among adults, the risk of SCD increases exponentially with age.

Trends

• Unadjusted survival to hospital discharge after EMS-treated OHCA increased from 10.2% in 2006 to 12.4% in 2015.
• Rates of layperson-initiated CPR and layperson use of AEDs have increased over time. In 2016, laypersons initiated CPR in 40.7% of cases (up from 36.5% in 2006). Laypersons used AEDs in 5.7% of cases (up from 3.2% in 2006).

Complications

• Survivors of cardiac arrest experience multiple medical problems including impaired consciousness and cognitive deficits. As many as 18% of OHCA survivors have moderate to severe functional impairment at hospital discharge. Functional recovery continues over the first six to 12 months after OHCA in adults.

Healthcare Utilization and Cost

• The estimated societal burden of SCD in the U.S. was 2 million years of potential life lost for males and 1.3 million potential life lost for females, accounting for 40-50% of the years of potential life lost from all cardiac diseases.
• Among males, estimated deaths attributed to SCD exceeded all other individual causes of death, including lung cancer, accidents, chronic lower respiratory disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer.

Awareness and Treatment

• The median annual CPR training rate for U.S. counties was 2.39%, based on data from the AHA, American Red Cross and the Health & Safety Institute, the largest providers of CPR training in the U.S. The prevalence of reported current CPR training was 18%, and the prevalence of having CPR training at some point was 65%. Training rates were lower in rural areas, areas with high proportions of black or Hispanic residents, and counties with lower median household incomes.

Future Research

• The absence of standards for monitoring and reporting the incidence and outcomes of cardiac arrest remains a barrier to population research in the U.S. Increasing the rigor of reporting cardiac arrest will improve understanding of the epidemiology of this syndrome.

- ORIGINAL SOURCE: American Heart Association;
Summary compiled by Mary Newman, MS,
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation

#sca #suddencardiacarrest cpr #smallbusiness #cpr #aha

- Ginger Davis

Heartland CPR, llc

405-603-6666

www.HeartlandCPR.com