Our mission is saving lives!  We continuously strive to be the best CPR Provider in the region by offering quality training that is engaging, convenient and fun for everyone.  To help make CPR easy, CPR Choice offers:

• Convenient Locations– CPR Choice prides itself on offering classes all over the Knoxville and surrounding counties. We offer classroom training at our Knoxville Training Center, as well as classes in the following areas:
  • Lenoir City
  • Maryville
  • Oak Ridge
  • Sevierville
  • Tricities

We also offer on-site training. Gather a group of 8 or more and we’ll come to you. We can accommodate any size group and we have worked with some of the largest companies in Knoxville.

• Flexible Schedules– We offer classes consistently all over Knoxville and the surrounding counties. Our Knoxville Training Center schedules classes each week & offers weekend options too. We can also accommodate any last minute training needs. With our organizational structure, we can offer classes for any shifts for your employees and/or businesses.
• State of the Art Equipment– Our modern and up-to-date equipment offer students hands on training with life-like manikins to provide visual feedback regarding compression depths and speed. We have over 50 manikins in inventory, offering all our students an opportunity to have practical experience
• Wide Variety of classes– Our classes include:
  • Basic Life Support BLS for Healthcare Providers
  • Heartsaver ® CPR AED
  • Heartsaver ® First Aid CPR AED
  • Heartsaver ® Pediatric CPR/AED & First Aid
  • Family & Friends ® CPR
  • Blood Borne Pathogens
  • BLS for Healthcare Providers Skills Check
  • BLS for Healthcare Providers Challenge
  • Online Training (Blended Learning)
  • ASHI Emergency Oxygen Administration

Starting July 2015, we will also be adding ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) and PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) to our curriculum.  Continue to check our website for new class offerings, www.cprchoice.com.

• We make it FUN! We deliver quality training with the most experienced instructors in the area, boasting a combined 85 years’ experience in CPR and safety training. Our staff members are passionate about their job and incorporates their real-life training knowledge into the class room offering a fun, engaging and informative experience.

Visit our website www.CPRChoice.com to learn more about our locations, classes and our team!  We would love to see YOU in a CPR class soon!

June 1-7 is National CPR and AED Awareness Week. We’re pleased to support the American Heart Association and its important mission to increase survival from cardiac arrest. We’re asking all members within our community to please take one minute of your day to learn the lifesaving skills of Hands-Only™ CPR.

Also, for CPR awareness week we are hosting a free community CPR class called, Knoxville Knows CPR! Our mission is to save lives; both in the classroom and in our community.  We think this is the best way that we can accomplish both!  Everyone needs to learn CPR!

I am requesting your help addressing a health concern that impacts our entire community. According to the American Heart Association, 90 percent of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrests die. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival. If you are called on to give CPR in an emergency, you will most likely be trying to save the life of someone you love: a spouse, parent, child or friend.  Many bystanders feel helpless when they see someone go down because they don’t know what to do.  Just learning 2 simple steps can make a huge difference in the victim’s outcome.

We will be teaching hands-only CPR and focusing on how learning 2 steps can save lives.
1) Call 911 & get the AED
2) Begin hands only CPR (compressions only)

What: Knoxville Knows CPR, Free Community CPR Class
When: Sunday, June 7th at 2PM
Where: The Zone Sporting Complex, 5331 Western Ave.  Knoxville, TN
Why: It is CPR Awareness Week
(Donations are welcome; all proceeds will benefit Hearts for the Homeless)

If you can’t make it to our class, at least visit the AHA website and learn Hand’s Only CPR.  You may wonder why this is such an important cause. Your life is why! In just one minute, you can learn the two simple steps of Hands-Only™ CPR.  Please watch the video any day from June 1 through 7. Then share the link with family and friends, and ask them to learn CPR.

Thank you so much!  Learn to save a life!

Congratulations! You enrolled in a CPR class and completed the course requirements. The class provided you with the knowledge to offer first aid, administer CPR and use an AED to help potentially save a life. During your class, you learned the importance of CPR because about 88% of all cardiac arrests occur at home, which means your skills will more than likely be used on a loved one. All the topics and hands on application are crucial steps in preparing you to potentially save a life and help stabilize a patient until medical help arrives. It’s literally a life saver.

The American Heart Association suggests a CPR re-certification every two years to make sure you are up-to-date on the latest techniques and it’s a great opportunity to refresh on your basic skills. Two years can go by so fast and your memory of some of the techniques may have faded.  CPR Choice offers a variety of CPR classes to re-certify you and make sure you have the most up-to-date information.

• Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers
• Heartsaver CPR & AED
• Heartsaver First Aid, CPR & AED
• Pediatric First Aid & CPR
• Blood Borne Pathogens
• Emergency Oxygen

Regain your confidence in your ability to perform CPR and to use an AED is the best way to prevent unnecessary deaths.  CPR Choice is your source to learn the skills needed to save a life!  It is a very small price to pay versus watching the ones you love pass in front of you. Re-certify and sign up for a CPR class today!

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 Healthy Living Expo is coming up!  Get ready for Knoxville’s largest Health & Fitness Expo.  AND…Guess What??  CPR Choice will be participating this year!  We will be doing live CPR demonstrations as well as teaching classes and handing out information at our booth.  Come visit us and learn “hands-only” CPR and get some information and goodies!  We will also be teaching a Friends & Family class each day of the expo. The class will be $10 and all proceeds will be donated to The American Heart Association.

Friday, Jan 23, 2015 9am-3pm (Family & Friends CPR @ 2PM, click to sign up)
Saturday, Jan 24, 2015 9am-4pm (Family & Friends CPR @ 2PM, click to sign up)

Knoxville Convention Center, Booth #121

Admission to the expo is $10 at the door or FREE if you get your tickets ahead of time.
Seniors FREE on Friday, Children 12 and under FREE

FUN! FIT! FABULOUS and FREE!

The area’s largest event focused on health, fitness, nutrition and living green returns for it’s eleventh year to the Knoxville Convention Center January 23-24, 2015. Over 130 individual companies fill more than 250 exhibits. The Expo continues to grow each year from its launch in 2005 and expects approximately 10,000 visitors!  The Healthy Living Expo offers interactive, educational exhibits, demonstrations and presentations.  Best of all, it is FREE when you get tickets before the doors open.

Some of the features for the 2014 Expo:

• Natural Awakenings Natural Health Pavilion
• Life Saving Skills taught by CPR Choice
• Chiropractic Care Pavilion
• Various Important Health Checks
• Healthy Food Sampling Booths
• Hundreds of prizes given away both days!

FREE WELLNESS PROGRAM FOR EMPLOYERS
Cigna Healthcare takes the lead promoting employee wellness by sponsoring tickets to the expo for any company that registers on The Healthy Living Expo website. Whether you have a handful of employees or one of the largest employers in our region, registration only takes a few minutes at the website, TheHealthyLivingExpo.com then you can offer:

MANY WAYS TO GET FIT and GET HEALTHY!
From natural health products to fitness companies, you will find a plethora of new ways to get fit and get healthy at The Healthy Living Expo, including life saving techniques from CPR Choice!

CPR CHOICE
What could be more important than knowing how to save someone in a life threatening situation? The Expo is proud to have CPR Choice demonstrate on stage some of the techniques you can learn when you take a CPR class. You can even take a class while you are at the expo, so by the time you leave you can be prepared to properly assist someone with life saving skills!

Natural Health Pavilion
This section of The Healthy Living Expo has companies with products and services that have a natural health aspect. Natural Awakenings Magazine, the foremost leader in our community promoting natural health is the sponsor of this area. Everything from household products, nutritional supplements to local green suppliers are found in the pavilion promoting a healthy mind, body and planet.

Chiropractic Care Pavilion
In keeping with the natural health approach to wellness is the Chiropractic Care pavilion. Three top chiropractic health professionals host this section with information about whole body wellness using natural health solutions.

FUN Outdoors
Getting outdoors, taking walks and hikes, visiting local parks are all part of living healthy so the City of Knoxville sponsors this area to inform our community of these available resources. Look for many associations and businesses offering information and products for outdoor fun for the entire family available right here in East Tennessee.

Get FIT with Health Checks
More than a dozen free health checks are available at the Expo. Screenings for allergies, blood pressure and a list of other simple tests will be listed at TheHealthyLivingExpo.com under the health check tab.

FABULOUS FOODS
Local Chef Walter and other experts using healthy products create FABULOUS foods at the Eat Right stage then share samples with visitors.  And after each segment, prizes are drawn for those attending. In addition to the stage presentations, numerous exhibitors offer samples of healthy products.

Get Active to stay FIT!
Fort Sanders Health & Fitness Center takes the lead on this stage with plenty of ideas for getting active. Music fills the area for two days highlighting numerous ways to become more active. Demonstrations are exciting to watch, inviting to participate and created for visitors of all ages.

It is informative and fun!  Come check it out!  This is a prime opportunity to find ideas, products, and services from the many exhibitors! CPR Choice is offering these Family & Friends CPR classes as a public service. All proceeds from this class will be donated directly to the American Heart Association.

The Family & Friends CPR Course teaches the lifesaving skills of adult Hands-Only CPR, child CPR with breaths, adult and child AED use, infant CPR and relief of choking in an adult, child or infant. Skills are taught in a dynamic group environment by using the AHA’s research-proven practice-while-watching technique, which provides students with the most hands-on CPR practice time possible.

So you had the opportunity to take a CPR class that was offered at work. You come out of the class feeling pretty confident about your skills …..30:2, head-tilt-chin-lift, chest rise…..got it! Glad you know it, hope you never have to use. But now it is a year down the road. The certification is good for two years but you’ve already forgotten some of what you learned. If someone suddenly collapsed in front of you would you feel comfortable acting?   If you don’t remember everything from you class would you do more harm than good?

This is a common concern for many people who have been trained in CPR but not had real world practice. According to the American Heart Association, when interviewed , bystanders said panic was the major obstacle in performing CPR. This was one factor that led to the AHA releasing updated guidelines in 2010 that allowed for the option of Hands-Only CPR. . Hands-Only CPR is CPR without the mouth-to-mouth breaths. It consists of 2 easy steps:

• Call 9-1-1
• Push hard and fast in the center of the chest

Studies reviewed by the AHA reported that adults who experienced cardiac arrest and received Hands- Only CPR were more likely to survive than those who didn’t receive any type of CPR. Simply stated, doing something is better than doing nothing! The easy to remember Hands-Only technique may help remove barriers for people who want to help but feel unsure of their ability. So don’t let fear inhibit your ability to help save a life. Take action and make a difference.

For more information about Hands-Only CPR you can visit the America heart Association website

The American Heart Association (AHA) has two simple tips for anyone around you that goes into cardiac arrest.  Call 9-1-1 and push hard and fast in the center of the chest to the beat of the classic disco song “Stayin’ Alive”.    Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR can more than double a person’s changes of survival, and “Stayin’ Alive” has the right beat for Hands-Only CPR (www.heart.org).    The 1977 Bee Gees’ song has the perfect beat for performing CPR because the song contains 103 beats per minute.  This is close to the recommended chest compressions of 100 beats every 60 seconds.

This campaign introduced by the AHA has created a series of videos available on YouTube to help spread the word.  Ken Joeng, an actor, comedian and also a licensed physician in CA stars in one of the promotional videos and urges people to pay attention.

CPR courses are so important and it is crucial that every American learn these skills.  Sign up for a class today!  CPR Choice offers classes that are fun and engaging and allow each student lots of hands-on experience.  Do not hesitate to learn CPR, you could make a difference, you could save a life! We offer classes for anyone!  Including: BLS for healthcare providers, Heartsaver CPR & AED, and Heartsaver First Aid.

Almost every day, someone shares their concerns and fears of being held liable if they were to give CPR to a bystander.  It does seem like people can be sued for almost anything these days.  Have you read about consumers suing restaurants for causing them to be overweight?  Or criminals that sue their own victims for injuries caused while committing the crime?

With this sort of litigiousness being prevalent in our culture, many people tend to be cautious with their interactions with others. When it comes to giving someone CPR or first aid many fear their liability.  What happens if they break a rib or if the person isn’t resuscitated?  In the state of Tennessee there are protections in place for those who are, in good faith, attempting to provide assistance during an emergency.  Most states have these safe guards in place, they are usually referred to as Good Samaritan laws.

Tennessee’s Good Samaritan Law protects ANY person who provides emergency rescue, CPR or first aid from liability if they meet certain conditions:

• The rescuer must be acting in good faith.  This means he or she is providing care to the person without any motive other than saving the person’s life or keeping them from further harm.  They may not receive any rewards or monetary donation.
• The situation must be a potential life-threatening emergency and the care must be necessary to treat the injury.  Examples of life saving treatment are giving CPR, applying pressure for blood loss, giving rescue breaths, providing first aid or performing abdominal thrusts to a choking victim.
• Care must be provided on a voluntary basis.  The caregiver must not have legal obligation to provide help nor can they be paid for providing assistance. A healthcare provider (i.e, paramedic, nurse, physician) that is on duty is not protected under Good Samaritan laws.  However, a healthcare provider that stops at the scene of an accident and provides first aid (while not on duty) IS protected.
• You may not commit gross negligence.  The caregiver must not deliberately act in a way that would cause harm to the victim. This could include performing skills that you are not trained to perform.

The best way to protect yourself is to get certified in CPR and First Aid by taking a class from an authorized training center.  Keep your certification current, most certifications last 2 years.  As long as you are acting with true intentions of trying to save someone’s life,  you are not held liable.  If you have not been trained, please call 911 and get an Automated External Defibrillator (AED)!

Good Samaritan Act – Article 4 ARS.#32-1471

Health care providers and other persons administering emergency aid are not liable. Any health care provider licensed or certified to practice as such in this state or elsewhere or any other person who renders emergency care at a public gathering or at a scene of an emergency occurrence gratuitously and in good faith, shall not be liable for any civil or other damages as the result of any act or omission by which person rendering the emergency care, or as the result of any act or failure to act to provide or arrange for further medical treatment or care for the injured persons, unless such person, while rendering such care, is guilty of gross negligence.

To read the entire Tennessee Good Samaritan Act, click here.

This article is not intended to be legal advice

Many people feel uncomfortable putting their mouth on a stranger’s mouth.  I can relate to this.  The first time that I ever gave CPR it was to a hitchhiker on the side of the road that I witnessed having a heat stroke.   I did not know him and would not have wanted to put my mouth on his.  Luckily for him, I have an entire trunk full of CPR arsenal but most people don’t.

Hands only CPR was developed so that bystanders could feel comfortable doing something and doing it quickly.   Most people that experience cardiac arrest out of a hospital setting die because they do not receive immediate CPR from someone at the scene.  Hands only CPR is easy and anyone can do it!

Here are the steps:

• Call 911
• Push hard and fast at the center of the chest

(Compress the chest to the beat of the disco song “Stayin’ Alive” 100 beats per min)

Hands-Only CPR is recommended for teenagers and adults.  Cardiac Arrest is the leading cause of death in America and immediate CPR can double your chance of survival.

So why does it work?
We already have a fair amount of oxygen in our blood and in our lungs.  When someone isn’t moving they aren’t using much of that oxygen.  This allows a few minutes for our bodies to use up all the stored oxygen until help arrives.  Also, a small amount of oxygen is passively pulled in and pushed out with every compression given by a rescuer.

The Hands-only approach is not recommended for infants and children as they rarely experience cardiac arrest.  If someone has stopped breathing due to drowning, choking or severe asthma they would still need mouth-to-mouth ventilations as well as chest compressions.

Sources:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Heart_Letter/2008/July/hands-only-cpr
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/CPRAndECC/HandsOnlyCPR/Hands-Only-CPR_UCM_440559_SubHomePage.jsp