Save a Life

When people interview with me one of the things I always let them know is that the training is pretty continuous at this company. There are always new things to learn, from new people joining the company, to new laws impacting our industry and new technology affecting the ways we do our jobs. Yesterday I and the rest of the human resources and training team (collectively known internally as the Employee Services group) had the chance to go through CPR/AED training together.

For some of us this was simply a chance to renew our certifications, but for others it was their first exposure to this potentially life-saving training. Dana, one of our Safety Consultants, was the trainer. Dana's background includes not just safety but fire-fighting experience as well as serving as an army medic. Dana is a wonderful trainer who brings some real-world perspective to what he teaches. Pinnacol, like many employers, has made the investment to have several AED's and first aid supplies scattered throughout our building, but as Dana pointed out if people are unwilling to use them because they don't know how to use them that can be a bad thing.

I've sat through a lot of these sessions through the years, but Dana's approach to teaching the AED was unique. He queried the group as to who had gone through the training before. Many of us raised our hands. Then he asked who had actually ever used an AED. Fewer hands were raised. Then he asked one of the group who had not raised their hands to either question to come forward. On the floor was the first aid mannequin with an AED. He asked our team member to try to save the life of the person on the floor. Our team member looked petrified at the thought of using the device, but with gentle encouragement he got her to open the AED and then prompted her to simply turn the unit on.

Those of you who have gone through this training know what happens next: the AED speaks to you and tells you step by step what to do. With no further direction from Dana, our team member correctly applied the pads and gave the mannequin a training "shock" with no problem whatsoever. She was amazed at how easy and straightforward the process was. The fear factor had been eliminated.

Dana has conducted CPR/AED training to more than one hundred of our employees and has the goal to eventually teach all of us at Pinnacol how to use these simple tools that can be so critical in a medical emergency. One of the things we cover with new employees during orientation is where our AED's are located, and we point out that if someone is having a heart attack their chances of survival are cut by as much as 50% if emergency aid (performing CPR/ using an AED) is not given within just the first couple of minutes. I'm sure I would speak for Dana if I encouraged everyone, inside Pinnacol and out, to go through this training. You really have nothing to fear but fear itself. And who knows? You might just save a life.