Certification Cards

Halloween Candy and Choking-Related Incidents Among Children

Posted on by SafetyPros in CPR, General, Pediatric, Rescue, Training Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again! Danger is lurking for your little goblins.

A study published July 20, 2013 in the journal Pediatrics looks at nonfatal food choking incidents among children 14 years or younger in the U.S.

    • An estimated 111,914 children ages 0 to 14 years were treated in US hospital emergency departments from 2001 through 2009 for nonfatal food-related choking, yielding an average of 12,435 children annually and a rate of 20.4 visits per 100 000 population.
    • The mean age of children treated for nonfatal food-related choking was 4.5 years.
    • Children aged ≤1 year accounted for 37.8% of cases
    • Male children accounted for more than one-half (55.4%) of cases.
    • Of all food types, hard candy was most frequently (15.5% [16 168 cases]) associated with choking, followed by other candy (12.8% [13 324]), meat (12.2% [12 671]), and bone (12.0% [12 496]).
    • Most patients (87.3% [97 509]) were treated and released, but 10.0% (11 218) were hospitalized, and 2.6% (2911) left against medical advice.

This Halloween, are you prepared to come to the aid of a child in an emergency?

Trick or Treat

Choking can occur when a solid object enters a narrowed part of the airway and becomes stuck. Young children are particularly at risk for choking because of the small size of their air passages, inexperience with chewing, and a natural tendency to put objects in their mouths.

On inhalation, the object can be drawn tighter into the airway and block air from entering the lungs. A forceful abdominal thrust beneath the ribs and up into the diaphragm can compress the air in the chest and “pop” the object out of the airway. Direct compression of the chest over the breastbone can also create enough pressure to expel an object and is typically used for obese or pregnant victims with blocked airways.

An emergency care provider must be able to recognize the difference between a mild blockage and a severe blockage.

With a mild blockage, a child can speak, cough, or gag. This type of blockage is typically cleared by coughing. Encourage a child with a mild blockage to cough forcibly. Stay close and be ready to take action if things worsen.

When a severe blockage occurs, a child cannot dislodge the object on her own. Signs of severe obstruction include very little or no air exchange, lack of sound, and the inability to speak or cough forcefully. The child may hold her hands to her throat as she attempts to clear an obstruction naturally.

Please note: Abdominal and chest thrusts can cause internal injury. Anyone who has been treated for choking with these maneuvers should be evaluated by EMS or a physician to ensure there were no injuries.

To help prevent choking, Kidshealth.org has some tips to keep in mind during all the upcoming treat-filled holidays:

    • Encourage kids to sit when eating and to chew thoroughly. Teach them to chew and swallow their food before talking or laughing.
    • Be especially vigilant during adult parties, when nuts and other foods might be easily accessible to small hands. Clean up promptly and carefully, and check the floor for dropped foods that can cause choking.
    • Never let kids run, play sports, or ride in the car with gum, candy, or lollipops in their mouths.

Ready to give yourself a treat and learn a few tricks at a first aid, CPR, and AED class near you?


Good Samaritans give CPR to cyclist

Posted on by SafetyPros in CPR, General, Rescue, Training Leave a comment

News, Weather and Sports for Lincoln, NE; KLKNTV.com

Great reporting by Jenn Schanz jschanz@klkntv.com:

“Bruce Benda and Buck Williams were looking forward to a day on the road with their motorcycles.

They had planned to ride to Branched Oak Lake, but took a detour in Pioneers Park on the way.

It was there, they saw a biker in desperate need of help.

“You could see there was no breathing, and there was really no distress, he was kind of just laying there curled up into a fetal position, and just…things weren’t right,” says Buck Williams, who performed CPR on the biker.

They thought the biker, a man they guessed was in his mid-fifties, may have had a heart attack.

While they waited for the ambulance to arrive, the two friends stayed by the mans side.

as Buck did CPR, Bruce comforted him.

“We made him as comfortable as we could, took his helmet off him. I put my sweatshirt underneath his head. Then we just proceeded to talk to him, tried to communicate with him. Let him know to hang on, that we were there,” says Bruce.

After minutes of compressions, Buck says the man had a pulse once the ambulance got there.

American Red Cross Training Specialist Sue Alby says it’s the first few minutes of a cardiac crisis that are key.

“For every minute a person goes without breathing, and essentially without a heartbeat, it can reduce their chance or survival by ten percent,” she says.

Buck and Bruce even made the trip to the hospital with the man, and visited him later that day.

Bruce says they don’t feel like heroes, they just did what anyone else would have done, looked out for one another.

The latest update on the biker is that he is critical, but stable condition. “

To get your American Red Cross CPR certification, call us at 916-538-6447 or click here to enroll in an upcoming CPR class.


How to Renew Your Lifeguard Certification

Posted on by SafetyPros in Aquatics, Lifeguard, Rescue, Training Leave a comment

Safety Training Pros is offering a one day re-certification class for current lifeguards.  The class is from 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM on Sunday, April 21, 2013 at the Glen Oaks Swim & Tennis Club, 4301 Paradise Drive, Carmichael.

The course is for lifeguards currently certified in American Red Cross Lifeguarding/First Aid, and/or CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer, needing to update their skills to maintain their certification. Through videos and hands-on review practice, you’ll refresh your patron rescue and surveillance skills, land and water rescue skills as well as first aid and CPR/AED for Professional Rescuers. Participants will conclude their re-certification with a written test.

The certifications you earn are good for two years.

The fee is $149, including an electronic version of the new lifeguard manual. Register online at http://198.63.35.143/events/lifeguard-renewal-certification-april-2013/ or by calling 916-538-6447.


How to Meet Current OSHA CPR & First Aid Training Requirements

Posted on by SafetyPros in CPR, CPR for Business, General, Training Leave a comment

Have you been meeting your OSHA mandated CPR and First Aid training requirements for your employees online? Online training alone does not provide the hands on CPR, First Aid practice required by current OSHA standards.

As OSHA states on its website osha.gov, “the word ‘train’ is defined as “[t]o make proficient with special instruction and practice,” Webster’s II New Collegiate Dictionary, 1995, p. 1,169. These standards require training in physical skills, such as bandaging and CPR. The only way these physical skills can be learned is by actually practicing them. OSHA’s Best Practices Guide: Fundamentals of a Workplace First-Aid Program, 2006, p. 11, states that a first-aid training program should have trainees develop hands-on skills through the use of mannequins and partner practice”.

When every second counts, your training matters! Train your employees right the first time with fun, fast, effective and affordable CPR and First Aid training from Safety Training Pros. Call us today to schedule your training at 916-538-6447 or visit us at www.safetytrainingpros.com

CPR certification, first aid training, OSHA training


4 Reasons To Use Digital Certification Cards

Posted on by SafetyPros in CPR for Business, General, Training Comments Off on 4 Reasons To Use Digital Certification Cards

Digital certification cards are the electronic form of a print certification card. What the student does to receive the card is not any different – meet knowledge and skill objectives as observed by an authorized Safety Training Pros CPR Instructor. Essentially, print or digital, the CPR training certification represents exactly the same thing.

Why should you consider using digital certification? Here are the top 4 reasons:

1 – Students lose their certification cards. With digital certification cards you never have to purchase replacement cards because you’ll always have access to the digital certification for the duration of the student’s certification period. Simply request an additional copy of your electronic certificate and the professionals at Safety Training Pros will e-mail it to you right away.

2 – Save money! Digital certification cards are less expensive than the wallet card equivalent.

3 – Instead of faxing or mailing copies of your certification card to your employer or anyone requesting proof of your training, just e-mail them your CPR certification card. Its fast and easy!

4 – Be on the cutting edge and go green! Save our valuable natural resources whenever possible.

Digital CPR and AED Certification Card

Once you’ve had a digital certification card, you’ll have a hard time going back to “the way we used to do it.”