CPR in a van

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Okay so I need my bls for nursing school. I called the american heart association. They told me to use the find a cpr class search tool. So the only one i could find was 70 miles away. I emailed the "instructor" a couple weeks ago and he said he would message me with the location, this class is supposed to be on monday. He finally called me a couple days before we are supposed to have this class and now he says he can drive to my house and wants to know my address. He said he has all the dvds and a cpr dummy in his van. This seems pretty sketchy. But I really need to get my bls cause the people who my instructors told me to call never called me back for a location on classes in july. There was a june class a july 10th and august 9th class, I called july 9th and 10th for a seat in the august class, and kept calling after those days i even left messages to the two people, but they didn't get back to me until august 7th where they told me the august class was full.. So this is my last resort. I am not sure if i can take online classes or not? The guy in the van said it would be 30 more dollars on top of the 35 if he drives 70 more miles to me. But I would rather take online if that is possible. The people i called at the american heart association didn't seem to know if i could take online or not.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.

I don't think the course will be held in the van; but that would be some real-world-like demonstration.:yes:

As for the online aspect, the norm today is that you can do the theory and testing portion online. But you would have to bring the completed printout to the REQUIRED hands-on demonstration check-off.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

What.

.... no. Nope nope nope. Re-read the title of your post and ask yourself if that sounds remotely legit. (Spoiler: no, no it does not at all, please do not give sketchy van man your money or your address.)

Google your city + BLS. Whatever you find, make sure it A) is the official AHA course, whether done by a public or private entity, and B) does not involve giving money to a dude with a dummy in the back of his van. I'm sure you'll find something; whether you can get in before school starts is another story.

(And no, it can't be done entirely online since you'll have to physically demonstrate CPR competency as well as taking the written test.)

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Hang on here: I have a good friend who is the EMS director for our county, a paramedic, firefighter, and BLS instructor. He makes a tidy little sum every year doing exactly what the 'guy in the van' does- providing last-minute AHA BLS instruction to people who are willing to pay his fee in the comfort of their homes or businesses. (His fee is quite reasonable too). About to get suspended from your job because your BLS is expiring? Call John! Need BLS to get the job you just qualified for? Call John! Student getting ready to start school and just realized your school won't accept your Red Cross CPR? Call John!

I don't find the situation sketchy a bit. LOTS of people drive vans!

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Well his name is actually John S. It's just that he is going to drive over 100 miles or so just to give me the training and it seems like it wouldn't be worth it for him. i am only paying 35 for the class and he said he wants 30-35 for gas/travel i guess.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

I'd give him not my home address, but a public meeting place. Say a park or a community center. Maybe I've watched too many episodes of "Web of Lies" (I'm on a crime documentary kick), but I don't see any benefit in giving him my home address, for something that doesn't need to take place in my home.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

My school actively promoted one-on-one sessions with a certified instructor on the nursing student bulletin boards. These were offered in her own home a block from the school and were at a reduced cost to those who showed their student IDs. Have you asked if the school has any resources you can take advantage of?

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I called the AHA and they said they're not responsible for anything, that is up to the training facilities. So they said that there is a "training facility" associated with his name, I called that "facility", a lady answered and acknowledged that the guy is working for said facility. That is how the AHA worker told me to verify this. Then, I just messaged him the address for my community college i am attending and told him to meet me there, so i guess i am doing cpr in a van.. I'll post how it goes... If i survive.. Oh and also, the AHA worker said that instructors name was also associated with the federal bureau of prisons (i guess working for them?).. whatever that means. But, she said that might be a different person, so idk. Thanks for the comments everyone..

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Have you asked if the school has any resources you can take advantage of?

Well they gave me two phone numbers for instructors. There were 3 dates one on June 11, July 10th and august 9th.. So i was working a lot, i ended up working on the june 11th and figured i had a lot of time.. So come july 9th i say hey the july class is coming up i better call them for the august class. So I call both numbers, no answer. There was also a location in my college for the classes, i show up to the time and location for the july class, but the college doors were locked and when i called both numbers again, they didn't answer. so the next day, I call and leave voice messages on both numbers, also i texted both numbers. Guess what, no responses. Come a few days before the august class i get a message from one of the instructors saying the august class is full and sorry it took so long to get back to you.. Well that is bs in my opinion. But yes that is all that i was given.

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Specializes in Critical care.

In my experience classes sometimes book up a couple of months in advance. Waiting until 1 month before a class to try to register (especially when there are so few classes in the area) is too late.

I'd ask the community college if there is a room somewhere you could use. The person probably doesn't want to do the class in a van, but just is mobile and willing to do individual sessions. I found out after I paid for a nonrefundable class before nursing school that a friend who was a nurse has a nursing friend (a coworker) that would have done it with me individually (for less than I paid).

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Am I the only one who saw the thread title and thought this?? :cool:

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

This actually sounds like a pretty good option except for the part about meeting at your house. For safety sake I would suggest meeting in a public place. Even better is if there is an unused conference room at work that you could book. If not at work there are often conference rooms that can be used at a local library. For further safety in numbers, is there anybody else you know that needs to renew? Then you could split the fee for the trainers's travel and the trainer will also have the added income from having another student. If there is nobody else that needs to renew, take a friend with anyway. As long as they are out of the way during the training it shouldn't be a problem. If the trainer has a problem with more than just you being there, well then I would definitely decline the service.

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