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 Education is essential to preparing for the unexpected. In addition to well-known training such as First Aid and CPR, the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter offers other specialty courses as part of its mission to prepare citizens for a variety of emergency situations.
While focusing on the importance of Red Cross volunteer instructors, Maxine Hepper, director of health and safety for the St. Louis Area Chapter, and Omar Ruiz of the Jefferson County Service Center, introduced Pet First Aid and Babysitter Training curriculum during a KJFF Radio interview on June 10.
Pet First Aid training focuses on cats and dogs and prepares pet owners to respond to life-threatening conditions such as choking and other breathing emergencies, poisoning and exposure to extreme weather conditions. Through the use of cat and dog manikins and stuffed animals, the course teaches participants how to perform rescue breathing and CPR skills and provides hands-on practice in bandaging.
The course includes a 100-page textbook, costs $30, and has generated a great deal of positive feedback from the community. Only months after completing the course, one woman saved the life of her cat when the animal suffered cardiac arrest during a thunderstorm.
Every parent hopes to find the perfect babysitter – a responsible individual who has received training in basic child care, safe play, First Aid and critical emergency action skills. Now that most schools have adjourned for the summer holiday, many young people have extra time to seek summer jobs. A popular option is found in babysitting.
Through Babysitter Training, a six and one-half hour course designed for participants at least 11 years of age, the Red Cross can help potential babysitters prepare for the important responsibilities associated with supervising young children. The course costs $40 and includes a First Aid Kit and reference materials.
Red Cross volunteer instructors are vital to delivering training in comprehensive health and safety skills to more than 85,000 citizens throughout the metropolitan area each year. In addition to teaching basic care for injuries and sudden illnesses, volunteer instructors train others to perform CPR on an adult victim and to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) for victims of sudden cardiac arrest. Interested individuals must be familiar with Adult CPR and First Aid skills, be at least 17 years of age, and will have an opportunity to be certified as Workplace Standard First Aid Instructors.
Hepper and Ruiz concluded the 30-minute live interview by previewing a seminar for emergency services volunteers that took place on Saturday, June 11. The workshop focused on family service casework, volunteering for local and national assignments, and featured the important role of mental health counseling in the wake of disasters and emergencies. Michael Logan, senior director of Chapter Readiness and Evaluation for the American National Red Cross, traveled from Washington, D.C., to deliver the keynote address.
Logan recognized the St. Louis Area Chapter’s commitment to “Prepare Greater St. Louis,” an initiative designed to guide the chapter in reaching greater numbers of individuals with disaster preparedness information, while simultaneously increasing the organization’s ability to respond to a disaster or emergency through continued volunteer recruitment.
For more information about health and safety courses offered by the American Red Cross, including Pet First Aid, Babysitter Training and Instructor Courses, or to learn more about “Prepare Greater St. Louis,” call Ruiz at the Jefferson County Service Center at 636.464.9150 or log on to www.redcrossstl.org.
The next Red Cross program will air on KJFF (1400 AM) at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, July 8.
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