From the Interns' Desk: The Manikin Room

There are a lot of volunteers out in the field preparing for disasters like Hurricane Irene and yesterday's earthquake, but there are also volunteers in classrooms and offices around the country making sure that we can still offer the services and classes we provide no matter what happens.

As interns this summer, Taylor and I got to learn a lot from and work with the volunteers that make services possible every day. 

Before I came to the American Red Cross, I never really thought about CPR training manikins, but now I know how important they are and how much time volunteers and staff spend with them to make sure they're ready for each and every class.

Students need the hands-on experience working with the manikins in our classes to really get comfortable practicing the skills that save lives. Each student is given their own "manikin face" at the start of class, so that everyone gets the chance to practice on their own clean manikin. After each class, each manikin and manikin face goes through a thorough cleaning and sanitation process to ensure that they are safe to use for the next round of students.  All the manikin faces are washed, then washed again with bleach, then air-dried, and finally wrapped in plastic wrap to be stored until they are needed for the next class. The manikins themselves are bathed with antibacterial wipes until they are squeaky-clean and germ-free. Here's a picture of manikin faces drying in the Manikin Room

Taking care of the manikins is a lot of work, and it's important to keep our students safe. The next time you take a CPR class, remember that a volunteer cleaned that manikin just for you :)

Interns in the Field

By Taylor Reed

In our last post, Narya and I shared our experiences as summer interns in training to be instructors for the American Red Cross of Central Texas. Today, I can cheerfully tell you that I've successfully taught my first class! I've been observing other instructors for a couple of weeks, but this week I decided to throw myself out of the metaphorical nest and teach my own class. 

Outside of my work here with the American Red Cross I'm also a nanny, so I jumped at the chance to teach an evening Child & Infant CPR course. These are my favorite areas to teach not only because the information is so essential for my work as a nanny, but because I feel like I can really relate to the people who sign up for this particular course. It's usually filled with moms, dads, grandparents, brand new babysitters, and college-age nannies like myself. 

Before my class began, I was asked if we would actually get to practice CPR on a manikin in the course. My first reaction was confusion. My only experience with CPR training has been with the American Red Cross, and I really feel that the emphasis on practice is what makes our training great. I had no idea that CPR training is completely unregulated in the state of Texas, and I honestly never thought CPR could be taught without practice!  I realize that there are lots of different ways that people can learn, but I'm glad that my students agreed with me that practice makes perfect. I could see each of them grow in confidence as we practiced the skills throughout the course. I was really proud that all of the participants were successful and confident of their ability to perform CPR by the end of the course. 

As I left the chapter that night, I thought of how thankful I was to be able to teach an effective class and that the American Red Cross had equipped me with the skills to save a life. I hope that no one from my class ever needs to use their training, but if they do, I'll be right there with them because of the class we shared.

Register Now to take a CPR class with an instructor like me and make your community safer!

From the Interns' Desk

By Narya Nosrati and Taylor Reed

 

Being a summer intern at the American Red Cross has lots of perks, and one of them is getting to hang out with these guys.  We've spent a lot of time cleaning and caring for our manikin friends, but after wrapping up our First Aid/CPR/AED Instructor Training we thought they needed a coffee break. Throughout the training course they, along with our wonderful instructor Fred, prepared us with the skills and materials we needed to become certified instructors. 

When we finished Instructor Training, we knew our work as interns at the Red Cross would never be the same. In addition to working in the office, we are now armed with the tools necessary to make a real impact in our community. Aside from refining our basic First Aid and CPR skills, we had the opportunity to grow as leaders. With this new found confidence, we are more determined and able than ever to carry out the mission of the American Red Cross. The information we will be teaching in our CPR/First Aid/AED classes is invaluable, and the more people we can reach out to the better our community as a whole will be able to prevent, prepare for and respond to an emergency.  This fact alone makes all of our studying and work well worth it. We hope that with each class we teach, we can give a few more Austinites the knowledge and confidence to tackle whatever situation life may throw their way. 

Signup for a class today so we can share these life-saving skills with you! Besides, who wouldn’t want to get up close and personal with these guys?