I recently was rehired as a paid CPR/First Aid Instructor with the American Red Cross. I was a paid instructor a few years ago, changed jobs and became a volunteer instructor at the Red Cross. To make a long story short I have been a instructor for the past 7 years. Initially our instruction was completely instructor to student classroom style which is to say lecture based followed by practical instruction using the CPR mannikin's named Rescua Ann and Resuca Andy. Personally I was never able to tell them apart.
The Red Cross employs a panel of experts who evaluate the efficiencies and effectiveness not only of the instruction material being presented but of the method of preforming CPR it's self. This panel is composed of Doctors, Nurses, Professional educators, business men, and lay personnel from the community who are instructors. In the past seven years I have seen significant changes in the procedures we use to train lay people in CPR.
One of the most significant changes is in the change from two person CPR to one person CPR. The Red Cross does not even teach two person CPR any longer. If you have taken CPR in the past you will remember the old two person team CPR method. The reason for this change is that once CPR has been started you are usually committing to performing CPR until emergency medical services arrives. Logic tells us that if we have to preform CPR for even a short time we will get very tired. If two people know CPR they can perform CPR much longer if one person performs CPR while the other one rest and they trade back and forth until help arrives. This change came about because of evaluations done through the professional team of experts.
Another example of Instructional Design and Technology at work is in the addition of technology to the instructional process. Instead of being lecture bases CPR classes have moved into the Audio Visual age through the use of first video tapes and VCR and now DVDs and DVD Players. Instruction can also be a hybrid of Internet bases instruction and testing followed up by a short practical session with an instructor.
Offering a variety of learning options has allowed the Red Cross to increase its' reach into even more remote locations. It also allows the instructors to remain up to date and able to benefit from a larger pool of knowledge than just that of their home chapter.
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We all have the same amount of hours in a day. It's what we do with them that sets us apart.
5 comments:
When I took CPR classes they showed the DVD's and we did one person CPR. This was only a couple years ago. I didn't even know they used to do two person CPR. It's interesting to see how some sort of technology has been added into almost anytype of training people have nowdays.
I learned it in a class as one person to start with, but in our last refresher course this year we also practiced two person CPR and it was much easier. In the Learning Resource Center I have a flashlight CPR unit purchased from Maxi-Aids when you turn it on it talks you slowly through all the steps and you can select child, youth, and adult. It prompts you to check for vital signs, breathing, checking the airway and then to contact 911 or send someone else to do it--then step by step through CPR and it counts for you. It also is labeled in Braille, so even a low vision or blind person can operate it and perform CPR.
Margie
You sure have a broad span of education experience. In my CPR/first aid course for medical professionals course that I took in college, it combined classroom instruction with videos and dummies for instructional support. It would be nice if the video material was available for continual reference online so that I could refresh my learning every now and then.
It is interesting to hear of these changes in a different environment other than the "normal" classroom. When I took CPR/First aid it was lecture format with one video shown. Then we practiced two person CPR and other first aid techniques. I think it altogether appropriate that the internet be used for CPR and I think it would be an excellent tool in teaching CPR and first aid.
What I really like about Educational Technology is the ability it has to make learning uniform and consistent. I think that video eliminates the possibility of bad instruction (as long as the video is good) and the inability to leave out important information (again, as long as the video is good).
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