CPR Course Isn't Accepted By Employers
School requirement brings confusion over the validity of course to employers.
By Katie Scripoch
School requirement brings confusion over the validity of course to employers.
By Katie Scripoch
As one of the requirements for graduation in California, first aid and CPR training with school is taught to students during their freshman year PE class, without receiving an official certification.
First aid and CPR training are a state graduation requirement, after Assembly Bill 1719 was signed into law by former California Governor Jerry Brown on Sept. 24, 2016.
All freshmen take this training, but it has brought some concerns about the quality of the training and the validity of this course to employers like the Almaden Valley Athletic Club, who do not accept it for their staff.
The bill only “requires a course in health education for graduation from high school to include instruction in performing compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation,” with no wording on official certification, meaning that it satisfies the graduation requirement but not CPR or first aid standards for many employers.
Austen Mok, 9, is grateful for the school offered CPR training because she feels that it’s a good life skill to have, but took issue with it not being accepted by some employers.
“I feel that it is a little unfair but I’m not too upset about it because I honestly don’t think we’re learning enough to get a certification,” said Mok.
PE teacher Francisco Villarreal said that students could benefit from the course using CPR mannequins like those used in other certification courses.
“I think if we could use mannequins to actually provide movements, for hand placement,” said Villarreal. “I understand right now, with COVID it’s challenging, but that would help out if we had material like that.”
Azeem Husain, 9, took the CPR training this year and thinks that there are improvements that could be made to the training.
“It would definitely be more beneficial if we took a course that was acceptable by employers,” said Husain.
Students wanting to become lifeguards, like Megan Leiker, 11, have to get a new CPR certification because the school certification is not accepted.
“The CPR course that we took in freshman year went over some of the basic parts of the course but they didn’t have us practice any of the skills so it wasn’t very effective,” said Leiker.
Mikayla Thurber, 12, works at AVAC as a receptionist and had to take a first aid and CPR course for her current position.
“The difference between the school CPR certification and the outside organization I went through is it was a 4-hour course held at the owner’s house, with a mix of videos used for online courses and hands on, interactive lessons,” said Thurber. “You get certified for CPR, AED, and first aid rather than just CPR and that certification lasts for two years.”
Jenna Salles-Cunha, 9, feels that the training doesn’t give her the most confidence, but if an emergency were to happen and she was around, she’d know what to do.
“It might be helpful if I’m the only person around, but people with actual certifications will probably be the ones helping if something actually does happen,” said Salles-Cunha
First aid and CPR training are a state graduation requirement, after Assembly Bill 1719 was signed into law by former California Governor Jerry Brown on Sept. 24, 2016.
All freshmen take this training, but it has brought some concerns about the quality of the training and the validity of this course to employers like the Almaden Valley Athletic Club, who do not accept it for their staff.
The bill only “requires a course in health education for graduation from high school to include instruction in performing compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation,” with no wording on official certification, meaning that it satisfies the graduation requirement but not CPR or first aid standards for many employers.
Austen Mok, 9, is grateful for the school offered CPR training because she feels that it’s a good life skill to have, but took issue with it not being accepted by some employers.
“I feel that it is a little unfair but I’m not too upset about it because I honestly don’t think we’re learning enough to get a certification,” said Mok.
PE teacher Francisco Villarreal said that students could benefit from the course using CPR mannequins like those used in other certification courses.
“I think if we could use mannequins to actually provide movements, for hand placement,” said Villarreal. “I understand right now, with COVID it’s challenging, but that would help out if we had material like that.”
Azeem Husain, 9, took the CPR training this year and thinks that there are improvements that could be made to the training.
“It would definitely be more beneficial if we took a course that was acceptable by employers,” said Husain.
Students wanting to become lifeguards, like Megan Leiker, 11, have to get a new CPR certification because the school certification is not accepted.
“The CPR course that we took in freshman year went over some of the basic parts of the course but they didn’t have us practice any of the skills so it wasn’t very effective,” said Leiker.
Mikayla Thurber, 12, works at AVAC as a receptionist and had to take a first aid and CPR course for her current position.
“The difference between the school CPR certification and the outside organization I went through is it was a 4-hour course held at the owner’s house, with a mix of videos used for online courses and hands on, interactive lessons,” said Thurber. “You get certified for CPR, AED, and first aid rather than just CPR and that certification lasts for two years.”
Jenna Salles-Cunha, 9, feels that the training doesn’t give her the most confidence, but if an emergency were to happen and she was around, she’d know what to do.
“It might be helpful if I’m the only person around, but people with actual certifications will probably be the ones helping if something actually does happen,” said Salles-Cunha