Vetting Your Instructor

If you read our last blog post you may see that this is a very hot topic of ours, and rightfully so. It’s the reason Janet and I started IGH to begin with. I spent around 8 years with the Arlington Fire Department, and over those 8 years I noticed a huge problem with CPR, AED, and First Aid Skills being used in the Public and Healthcare Facilities in general. Believe it or not, most people are willing to help others in need during a medical emergency, the problem is that they are not trained, lack continual training, or (most importantly) their Trainers/Instructors did not provide experienced, educational training when it came to verbal presentations and hands-on skills. This was the problem. Did you know that a vast majority of all CPR, AED, First Aid, BLS, and ACLS instructors have very little to no actual experience in the field of Emergency Medicine?

Unfortunately, anyone off the streets with a couple hundred dollars and some extra free time can become an Instructor/Trainer. They don’t have pre-qualifications, education minimums, or past experience needed to teach others the extremely important skills needed to save someone’s life. Contrary to popularly belief, Grey’s Anatomy or Chicago Fire don’t teach you all the necessary skills to educate others. Honestly, Would you learn to skydive from an instructor who just picked up the gig as a part-time job? Absolutely not. I think you know where I’m going with this… It takes years and hundreds, if not thousands, of CPR or First Aid/Emergency Calls to become comfortable with skills, knowledgeable in the field, and to gain confidence in yourself as a Professional. So why shouldn’t we hold those Instructors/Trainers (the ones who disseminate the education and skills to vast majority of our community) responsible and to a higher standard? We should. It’s the trickle-down effect right? No experience and minimal education leads to poor instruction and hands on skills, which then leads to poorly performed CPR and First Aid on REAL EMERGENCIES, right? Right. We’re talking about life and death here, Instructors and Trainers should always teach their students as if they were about to drop dead right in front of that class.

So, here’s our message that I’m trying to convey, before you hire a company or individual to teach a class, provide you with life saving equipment, or give you insight into these real emergencies, please vet them. Make sure the “Professional” you’re hiring has extensive knowledge and experience in the field. It could mean the difference between life and death for your colleague, friend, or family member one day. Please don’t take this as a sales pitch from IGH either, there are tons of Firefighters, Nurses, Paramedics, and EMT’s across the nation who I’m sure provide excellent courses. You owe it to yourself and the ones around you. Like I said at the beginning of this Blog, it’s the reason Janet and I started this Company. We believed that the Public, Healthcare Facilities, Churches, and so many more, deserved an education and training that exceeded all expectations and gave a true glimpse into the world of Emergency Medicine.

While we’ve expanded into services like Fire Equipment and Respiratory Fit Testing, our mission will never change when it comes to all that we provide. We’re here for the people, our community, and future generations.

As always, if you need us, we’ll be here.

Brent Bousquet – Co-Founder, President
(817) 797-6348
info@ighsafety.com
ighsafety.com