My Red Cross story began with a First Aid/CPR/AED course I took after moving to St. Louis. I had been practicing medicine for 34 years and decided to retire. I determined that I needed some activities to keep busy in St. Louis, and while I was already involved in Boy Scouting, it didn't quite fill the void. Because of my job, I was accustomed to dispensing preventative medicine and I saw teaching Red Cross courses as a way to continue helping the public. I was also attracted to their programs since they were an extension of what I was already aware of and practicing. In this way, I would be able to remain in contact with the general public and add to their wellbeing. And as an added bonus, my connection with Scouting gave me the opportunity to teach first aid to the young boys and hopefully give them an understanding of what they were learning. With my training, I was able to present the material in a well organized way and hope that much of the material would remain with the student. 

There are so many programs within the Red Cross available for me to teach and I would like to be involved in many of them. However, I know I would quickly be over involved and not be able to instruct nearly as much. Therefore I found it easier to concentrate on areas that represent some of the more needed subjects. For instance, instructing swimming to young children is one of the related topics I enjoy doing (it also represents preventive care if you think in terms of helping youngsters to survive in water and thereby prevent drowning). There just isn't a better feeling than seeing a youngster who starts out afraid of water be able to learn the basics of swimming. 

All these areas of instruction are a means to benefit my community. I only hope I will be able to continue for years to come.

Ed

Ed Mansour is a volunteer CPR/First Aid/AED Instructor for the St. Louis Area Chapter.