Last week was such an exciting week for us!  We love this time of year as it brings a lot of attention to the things we are passionate about.  With February being American Heart Month and yesterday being National Wear Red day we wanted to do something to help raise awareness and to give back to our community.  We thought that the best things that we could do is offer a free community CPR class.  We also wanted to help inform people about the signs and symptoms of heart attack and stroke and equip people with some ways that they can improve their own heart health.  Although heart disease is the leading cause of death in America, 80% is preventable and we want to help our community learn more about prevention.  Here are 7 simple things that you can do to create a healthier heart!

We were asked by, WATE Channel 6, to come and interview to share our event with the community.  I did two interviews; one for the morning news and one again at 5:30PM.  It was a great experience. Although I have been doing public speaking for over 15 years it was still a new experience.  I definitely think it was easier the 2nd time.  The first time I wasn’t really sure what to expect and wasn’t given much prep.  It was fun though and a lot of people heard about our free class and we had a full house last night.  A big thanks to Shelby Miller & Kristin Farley for having us on their show.

Last night we taught the friends and family CPR course and helped people learn: hands-only CPR, how to help someone that is choking, how to use an AED and child CPR.  We all had a great time!  All the participants did a great job and left with lots of goodies.  Not only did we provide some informational tips but also gave each participant some goodies including a CPR face mask and valentine!  We are so grateful to be able to share our passion with our community!   

It was awesome to see so many people wearing red yesterday!  Every where I went people were proudly wearing red.  We challenged our followers to post their selfies wearing red and offered a free gift.  Our free gift winner is Charissa Knouff!  

If  you didn’t get a chance to make it to our free class but you still want to learn, come join us for a CPR course in Knoxville, Maryville or the Tri-Cities area of East Tennessee.  We offer CPR classes multiple times per week in west Knoxville and at least once a week in the surrounding area.  We are offering all participants a $5 discount the entire month of February if they wear red to class!  So join us and register for CPR today.  

The American Heart Association is now offering eCards for their provider courses.  An eCard in the electronic equivalent of a printed course completion card.  eCards are valid course completion cards and can be presented to schools and employers as proof of successful completion of an AHA course.  Just like printed CPR course completion cards, eCards will expire two years from the issue date.

Students cannot receive both an eCard and printed card. eCards are an alternative to printed cards.  Only one AHA course completion card can be issued per student for each successfully completed course. However, e cards can be printed by both the student or instructor if necessary.  Employers may verify that an eCard is authentic by entering the card information at www.heart.org/cpr/mycards.

CPR Choice is excited to start using eCards.  These just became available Tennessee training centers last week.  We will be giving them as an option for CPR & First Aid students.  We will be offering eCards for the following courses:

• Basic Life Support BLS for Healthcare Providers
• Heartsaver^® CPR AED
• Heartsaver^® First Aid CPR AED
• Heartsaver^® First Aid
• Pediatric First Aid CPR AED

If you have any additional questions about eCards or CPR/First Aid training in the Knoxville or Tri-Cities area, please email info@cprchoice.com.  We offer CPR classes to the public multiple times per week as well as offer on-site CPR training at your location.

Sources: AHA eCards reference guide