Posted: 10/3/2011 10:01:58 PM EDT
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Anybody have any experience taking courses through the Red Cross? I went to their website and was looking at their courses offered in my area.
I have no experience, looking at their First Aid/CPR/AED course. $90. Worth it? |
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Quoted: $90 is a rip. I think it's $40 here. Yes, it's worth it. Basic stuff you'll encounter. Airway, breathing, circulation, and how to apply a basic bandage and some other stuff. it was like that here. 40-50 per person...since we went as husband/wife we got a discount. Ours was VERY basic. on the FA class. Ive learned more at boyscouts. But a good info if the instructor spends the time, verse letting their DVD's do the teaching. |
I just took the class last week. My employer paid so I have no complaints. We even trained using automatic defibrillator. I was pissed that they were only training aids and not the real thing  .
If you have never had any training in first aid its really a good start. My father taught me most of what I know about first aid but I can see the benefits of this class as a refresher course. |
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Do some research - their are much better courses out there and you don't have to support the Red Cross. The more I've worked around them and the more I've learned about how they operate the less and less respect I have for the Red Cross. Could you expand on that? |
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Quoted: Quoted: Do some research - their are much better courses out there and you don't have to support the Red Cross. The more I've worked around them and the more I've learned about how they operate the less and less respect I have for the Red Cross. Could you expand on that? I would have to agree with HubMcCaan on that 100%. My brother and SIL both worked for the Red Cross, and from what I've come to learn hearing from them first hand - Not fucking cool. THEY DO have decent training programs if all you want to learn is basic first aid stuff, CPR, Heimlich, light bandaging, etc... Fine - it will teach you light basics... I think it's about $50 or so in my area... But the problem is these courses are often taught by women whose view of the world is woefully skewed (social liberal idealist hippies) that are of the belief type I call, "Bandaid on any bleeding spot, here's a sticker, my tender hugs fix all injuries!" If you ask them about anything SERIOUS, like the subject of various gunshot wounds, use of a tourniquet, clotting agents, etc... Beware - you will not get a kind response, and will often be met with friction... A course like this: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_8_28/457036_Tactical_Combat_Casualty_Care_Under_Fire_Course.html Or a course like this: http://www.thedefensiveedge.com/product_p/urbantactics2.htm The above courses (with no-bullshit, no hugs & stickers, PRACTICAL medical training) will prepare you much better for the nitty gritty of TRUE trauma care & wound dressing... You ask a Red Cross person about use of a turniquet they'll say you should NEVER use a tourniquet. When in fact, for some wounded limbs and other lacerations etc... It's potentially a necessity. That said, you should ONLY use a tourniquet if your BANDAGE cannot stop the blood flow, AND if you can get your patient into a surgery room within a couple hours. Anything beyond 4 to 7 hours, and the patient might not only lose their limb, but might die of the septic shock the moment they release the tourniquet. If you bandaged the wound, applied specific point pressure, and the bleeding still hasn't stopped - and if you're pretty sure you can get the patient to a hospital surgeon within 1 to 2 hours - go ahead and use it. - but only put it about 6" above the wound - NOT all the way up the limb. In the event that they DO have to lose the limb... Why have to lose the WHOLE limb isntead of just the area around the wound? I seriously wish I could've made it to the Combat Casualties Under Fire course, but couldn't scrape up the dough in time.  As for the Red Cross... Their shoddy, disorganized operations, lack of consistency of Procedures from one facility to another, and the fact that they've decided that it's better to pay MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars per year in fines than to bring their operations back up to a level meeting medical health code standards... Well, that says a lot to me. It's a decent organization, but a vast majority of their managers and workers are lazy, lethargic, uncaring, and poorly educated. They'll cut corners on standardized procedures in many ways just to make their day go by faster and get home or to their hotel quicker. NOT the kind of people I want sticking needles into me. There's a REASON why any hospitals about to put you under for surgery will ask your blood type, but then DOUBLE CHECK with a blood test even after you show them a Red Cross blood donor card... My doctor told me they just don't trust a lot of things from the Red Cross, and with good reasons. |
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Quoted: Anybody have any experience taking courses through the Red Cross? I went to their website and was looking at their courses offered in my area. I have no experience, looking at their First Aid/CPR/AED course. $90. Worth it? I don't know what they charge since my company paid for it, but Cintas (the uniform people) offer First Aid/CPR/AED courses. You might want to look into them. |
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$90 is high.
I work with the RC here as a volunteer..no complaints. And as volunteer staff, they offer access to a lot of free training in everything from CEs to SAR. The first aid class is what it is..its a great basic class, but limited. Wilderness first aid is better. Check into taking a medical first respnder course. The specialized GSW classes, for the average person, are not the best use of funds, since the likelihood of seeing one is very low, compared to, say, dealing with somone with a diabetic emergency. MFR should provide a respectable level of training, without being too costly or time consuming. |
| American Heart Association is better for CPR training. Red Cross uses measurements hard to remember when pushing on a dying person's chest and adreniline is pulsing through your body and mind. AHA uses simple easy to remember measurements like "1/3 the thickness of the person" versus X number of inches which doesn't work on all body types. |
| I had to take it a few months ago before going with my sons' Boy Scout troop on a high adventure trek. It is basic beginner stuff but it is a start and cost me $5 going through BSA. I think it was worth while and I'd like to take the Wilderness First Aid training. |
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Having been through it 4x in my life- its alot of common sense stuff except they change CPR every year now.
Seeing as how this is posted in the SF it probably wont satisfy most as its pretty much learning to stabalize others untill EMT's show up. If you were a boy scout youd have learned it all already. |
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I think that for those that are serious you should look into CFR or EMT Basic. The CFR class is about 1 week and the EMT-B is about 1 month long. In some states you can get the schooling for free. Those classes offer a broader education than a 16 hour TCCC class will give you. Ask yourself... do you just want to know what to do when some one gets stabbed, shot or blown up? Or do you want to understand how to care for your coworker that got cold, sweaty and confused for no apparent reason also? Learn to recognize most major life threatening illness presentations. After 16 years on an ambulance with most of those in an urban environment GSW's are a small portion of what I see on a daily basis.
Just food for thought. |
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American Heart Association is better for CPR training. Red Cross uses measurements hard to remember when pushing on a dying person's chest and adreniline is pulsing through your body and mind. AHA uses simple easy to remember measurements like "1/3 the thickness of the person" versus X number of inches which doesn't work on all body types. AHA use to do the same thing, so many inches per the age of the PT. they changed it either last update or update before that. CPR instructions seem to be changing every 2 or 4 years just so someone can justify a job. but as you said AHA is 10x better than RC. |
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Do some research - their are much better courses out there and you don't have to support the Red Cross. The more I've worked around them and the more I've learned about how they operate the less and less respect I have for the Red Cross. Could you expand on that? Allow me to share an example. They (ARC) had the Rainbow Family cook some meals for the ERV's (Emergency Response Vehicles) to distribute after Hurricane Katrina. The site where this kitchen was located had the hippies, church groups and individuals providing items for distribution and serving meals. Since the hippies cooked the meals, the American Red Cross wanted EVERYONE, even groups not associated with them to log their hours. Many did because they thought they were supposed to. We didn't know it at the time, but we later heard they were submitting those hours to FEMA for a reimbursement. OK...one more. There was the $324.00 I spent on fuel for refrigerated trailers they were supposed to reimburse me . I bought the fuel to bridge a gap in the contract that Florida set up expired. Mississippi didn't have their contract finished or it was supposed to start on a Monday. There were tons of frozen chicken and frozen veggies that would have been lost if I didn't buy the fuel, ARC said in a meeting about the stop gap measure, they would reimburse me. It never happened. ARC can pound sand. |
| I have taken the AHA first aid/cpr and AED classes many times as well as the red cross first aid and cpr, paid for by work. I like the AHA classes much better. I wouldnot pay $90 for the class, check with local FDs or your local community center to see if anything cheaper is coming along. |
| I got certified as an instructor in first aid/CPR/AED last year thru the american heart association mainly because I wanted to expand my knowledge in that area. Most instructors in my area charge $50 or $60. I like the AHA program which uses a combination of videos, hands on practice and lecture to get the content across efficiently. THe entire program was just updated in 2010 so is also very up to date. |
| I got to take a combined CPR/AED/Firstaid class from these guys. It was $200 well spent, and I'd highly recommend them if they're teaching a class in your area. |