Archive for the ‘AHA’ Category

American Heart Association Pediatric Advanced Life Support Class

Now in San Jose we are offering PALS classes once a month! Don’t miss out on your certification! This class is recommended for renewal or initial students.

Some students can get CE credits but it depends for what type of job. You can call the AHA about CE credits at: (888) 242-8883 or you can go to their website for more information www.onlineaha.org

To register or for more information, please click here: http://www.sanjosecprcertification.com/schedule/pediatric-advanced-life-support-pals/

San Jose CPR Classes

545 Meridian Ave. Suite E.

San Jose, CA 95125

www.sanjosecprcertification.com

American Heart Association Heartsaver CPR Classes

Check our new video from our instructor Charles showing how to safe a child who is chocking:

For more information on our classes, please visit our website: www.sanjosecprcertification.com

San Jose CPR Certification
Next to USPS, across street Diddams
545 Meridian Avenue, Suite E
San Jose, CA 95126
Phone: (408) 724-9985
www.sanjosecprcertification.com

CPR Classes near Fremont, CA

Date: October 19th, 2013

Time: 1pm -4pm

Cost: $70

The American Heart Association Heartsaver CPR/AED certification class covers CPR for infants, children, & adults, choke-saving, and how to use an AED (automated external defibrillator). This course is for renewing, re-certification, or initial students. 

Epilepsy Classes are Conducted in San Jose, CA.

American Heart Association CPR Training class for medical professionals

Teaching others about Epilepsy Awareness is an important thing—not only during Epilepsy Awareness Month, but at all times.  Many people still live under many incorrect assumptions about epilepsy, and those things need to change. The American Heart Association has developed the Heartsaver First-aid course which overs what to do when someone suffers from a seizures. These courses are taught all over the USA and in San Jose.

First, epilepsy is far more common than people think.  There are more than three million cases, and climbing right now, with one hundred fifty thousand cases being diagnosed every year.  Sadly, deaths in the epileptic population due to Sudden Death Due to Epilepsy (SUDEP) run as high as seventeen percent each year.

There are a variety of factors that can contribute to SUDEP—age, IQ, even race and sleeping position.  However, more research needs to be done to help combat this disease.  Research though requires several things that epilepsy does not have: positive attention, and enough research money.

Epilepsy has been around since before the time of Christ, and sufferers of the disorder have been thought to be possessed with demons.  Many have been made fun of in school, or called idiots or daydreamers, when in reality they were having a seizure.  Still to this day, there is such a stigma that many people with epilepsy refuse to talk about having it openly.

Making people properly aware of what to do, how to act and how to support a person with epilepsy is important—especially during November, which is Epilepsy Awareness Month.  Here are some things to know when dealing with seizures of any type.

REMAIN CALM.  This is important for any seizure.  If you are dealing with someone having an absence or partial seizure, they may not be responsive at first.  For this reason, they may become combative, so stay calm no matter what.

MOVE THINGS OUT OF THE WAY.  This is important, too, especially when the epilepsy patient is wandering around, out of it, or about to fall to the ground into a tonic clonic (grand mal) seizure.  Moving things, especially sharp objects, will minimize injuries.

LET THE SEIZURE RUN ITS COURSE.  If the absence or partial seizure is taking place standing up, DON’T force the patient to sit down.  This will cause more problems if you do.  If the tonic clonic seizure is taking place, turn the patient on their side, loosen any clothing, take off their glasses and shoes, and turn their head to the side as well. DO NOT stick ANYTHING in their mouth.

ONCE THE SEIZURE HAS RUN ITS COURSE.  Stay with the patient, and talk to them calmly, but quietly, to let them reorient themselves.  It may take them a while to do so.  Patients that have a tonic clonic seizure may very well go back to sleep, and stay asleep for up to twenty four hours.

PLEASE NOTE:  IF AT ANY TIME THE SEIZURE LASTS MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES, CALL 911.

During Epilepsy Awareness Month, things like how to deal with a seizure will be taught to everyone that can possibly be reached.  At the same time, though, the need to raise research money will be brought up, too.  There are a several foundations just to support epilepsy, however, they need patrons to support them.

Susan Axelrod along with two other mothers of epileptic children founded the CURE Foundation.  The goal of the CURE Foundation is to raise money specifically for research for epilepsy.  Susan, does have an extra “gun” in her arsenal if you will—her husband is David Axelrod, President Barack Obama’s senior advisor.

As parents to Lauren, Susan and David Axelrod went through the pain of seeing their daughter Lauren seize day in and day out because there weren’t medications to control her.  Surgery didn’t help either.  More research was and is, badly needed.  Lauren will live in a special home the rest of her life, but has finally found a medication that works—for now.

Thus was born the CURE Foundation—and a way to make the need for this disorder’s need for research money more prominent.  The Axelrods are the spokesmen, if you will, for epilepsy that Michael J Fox and Muhammad Ali are for Parkinson’s disease.  Yet, combine Parkinson’s with multiple sclerosis, and cerebral palsy—and there are still more cases of epilepsy out there!  Yes, more research money is desperately needed!

On Oct 25, 2009, the Axelrods were interviewed by Katie Couric on 60 Minutes about their daughter, Lauren and the CURE Foundation.  The interview and its results were fascinating.  With Epilepsy Awareness Month coming up, be sure to try to watch that episode, and to help out your local epilepsy support chapter.  You’ll be glad you did.

For more information about learning about seizures and other life threatening emergencies, please take an American Heart Association Heart Saver First-aid course. Be prepared.

Are Women at as Great a Risk for Heart Attacks?

Heart attacks occur about as commonly in women as they do in men. However, the symptoms of a heart attack may be much less obvious for women. Many people think of the image of a man clutching his chest and falling to the ground as “code” for heart attack, yet women may experience a different set of symptoms. Nevertheless, the condition is no less serious, and it’s important to be aware of the warning signs and seek medical assistance right away.

What Exactly Is a Heart Attack?

A heart attack may be caused by a variety of medical conditions. The term “heart attack” is shorthand for a sudden shortage of oxygen-rich blood to the heart. This can be caused by a variety of medical conditions. The most common medical condition is due to a build up of plaque in the coronary artery. Sometimes, a piece of plaque will cause the blood to clot around it, constricting blood flow to the heart. When the blood flow to the heart is restricted, the heart tissue begins to die.

When experiencing a heart attack, it is important to seek medical attention right away to avoid permanent heart damage or death. If you have high cholesterol and a family history of heart disease, you may want to consider diet and lifestyle changes to lower your risk of heart attacks. Even a short 20 minute walk everyday can make a huge impact on lowering your risk for heart attack.

What is a Heart Attack Like for Women?

Women experiencing a heart attack are likely to feel a shortness of breath, nausea, or lower back and jaw pain. Women may also experience a pressure or a pain in their chest, back, or upper abdomen. The tightening in this region of the body may spread to the neck or jaw. Other symptoms include dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting, or extreme fatigue, A cold sweat and nausea are also common symptoms.  It’s easy to confuse some of these symptoms with the flu or the normal fatigue of aging. However, if you think you may be having a heart attack, it’s important to seek medical attention immediately.

Because heart attacks in women are more difficult to recognize, women are often misdiagnosed or sent home without being treated, causing unnecessary damage to heart tissue. Therefore, it is important to be aware of all possible symptoms and seek medical attention if you think you may be having a heart attack. You should report all symptoms fully to the doctor for the best diagnoses.

Seeking Medical Attention

Heart tissue can be damaged very quickly in a heart attack. Therefore, it is very important to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Don’t drive to the hospital. Instead, get an ambulence to bring you to the emergency room. People who call an ambulence and recieve Emergency Medical Service will get treatment up to an hour sooner than going to the emergency room by car. In a heart attack, every minute matters to preserve heart tissue.

Early Warning Signs?

Signs of a blocked artery may appear up to six weeks before a coming heart attack. Unexplained shortness of breath, fatigue, or stomach pain may indicate a blocked artery and increased risk for heart attack. These early heart attack warning signs should urge you to talk to your doctor about heart disease and seek treatment before your heart tissue becomes damaged. Heart attack warning signs for women can be easily confused with other diseases and disorders. Misdiagnoses are common. If you are at risk for heart disease, it is important to know the symptoms, risks, and report everything fully to medical professionals.

Being Prepared – Learn CPR

It is very important to know the warning signs of a women suffering from a heart attack, but it is also very important to know what to do. Immediately call 911 if you suspect someone is suffering from a heart attack. If their heart stops beating, start CPR. The American Heart Association and the American Red Cross provide low cost CPR classes throughout the Bay Area for those interested in learning how to perform proper CPR.

6 Reasons You Should Learn CPR

Do you know how to perform CPR properly?

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, is a technique used in medical emergencies to help keep blood pumping through the body and oxygen flowing to the brain. According to the American Heart Association, CPR saves lives, and they offer classes in communities across the country and throughout the year. Emergencies can happen anywhere, but a few circumstances may have particular need of someone trained in CPR.

You Care for Infants and Children
Many parents-to-be feel the need to get first-aid and CPR training to prepare them for the responsibility of caring for a new life. In this way, they feel ready to deal with any emergency they may encounter. If you work in a school or daycare facility, CPR training will give you the skills to help during an accident or medical emergency. Generally, CPR classes include the special techniques needed for use on infants and small children.

You Live With Someone Who Has A Serious Medical Condition
If someone in your family has a serious medical condition such as heart disease or a respiratory condition, you may wish to be prepared for an emergency by getting CPR training. The procedures of chest compression and intermittent breaths given to a person in distress can maintain life until the emergency medical team arrives on the scene.

You Own A Swimming Pool
People who own a swimming pool on their property often worry about children who might be attracted to the water and end up in a drowning accident. Knowing CPR techniques will help you to be prepared to help should a drowning incident arise. Grandparents who have swimming pools on their property often want CPR training to ensure that they are in a position to help if a grandchild is in trouble.

You Work In A Medical Environment
Those who work in medical environment may have CPR training as one of the requirements for employment. Often, the employer will arrange training for new-hires to ensure that all personnel can handle any emergencies that occur with patients that are already medically compromised. If you already have this training, it can help your chances for employment. The course that medical professionals are required to take is called BLS for the Healthcare Provider.

You’re Involved in Fitness or Physical Training
Frequently, teachers of fitness programs and other personnel of a facility are required to have CPR training to ensure that they will be able to handle any medical emergency that occurs during physical activities. This readiness can be important when older clients have sudden medical problems or when unsuspected medical conditions arise in any client. Having all staff members trained in CPR is not only a good marketing point for the facility and ensures that employees will be able help until EMTs arrive.

Santa Clara County Good Samariatan Laws for Providing First-aid

If you’re in a situation where someone is injured and requires first aid your first decision is whether or not you’re willing to provide it. If you decide to become the first aid provider your first priority then becomes your own safety.
Some people wonder if they’re required to provide first aid after taking a safety class. In general the answer’s no, first aid training is meant to increase your effectiveness as a first responder and as a first aid provider, but you don’t have the same legal obligations to provide treatment that doctors and other professional medical providers do.
Many people are concerned about the possibility of being sued if they provide first aid to an injured person. Good Samaritan laws generally provide protection to first aid providers as long as those providers don’t exceed their level of training. The application of Good Samaritan laws varies between countries and in the U.S. it varies from state to state. You should find out how the Good Samaritan laws are applied in your area.
After someone takes an American Heart Association first-aid class, they will receive an official certification card that shows the date of the course and when the card expires. Even though a rescuer does not possess a current card, or if their card has expired, they are still protected by the Good Samaritan laws.
Before helping a victim you must have the victims consent to do so. Identify yourself and state your level of training.
“My name’s Robert and I’m trained in basic first aid. Can I help you?”
If the injured person says no and you provide first aid anyway, you’ve opened yourself to a potential lawsuit. If the victim is unresponsive or mentally impaired the legal concept of “implied consent” allows you to provide first aid. Implied consent assumes that most reasonable people will want first aid treatment if they’re in need of it.
A minor can’t legally withhold consent for first aid treatment, but their consent needs to come from a parent or legal guardian. If the parent or legal guardian isn’t present, or if they’re unresponsive or mentally impaired, then the concept of implied consent allows you to provide first aid.
After deciding to help and getting the victims consent to do so your next priority becomes your own safety. Take a minute and assess safety at the scene. If the victim has been injured in a car accident it may be necessary to have someone stop traffic in order to make the accident scene safe for the first responders/first aid providers. If the injury was caused by machinery it’s not unreasonable to assume that the machinery needs to be shut off in order to make the accident scene safe. If a person has cut themselves and is bleeding you need to use a barrier to protect yourself against blood borne pathogens.
The hazards will vary greatly from an industrial setting to an office setting, and from being outdoors to being indoors. What’s important is that the hazards are recognized and then be eliminated or neutralized. Only after you’ve decided to provide first aid, you’ve been given the victims consent to help, and you’ve assured yourself that the scene is safe, can you move on and start providing hands on first aid.

What is an AED and What Makes it So Valuable

San Jose AED Defibrillators for sale

A new medical device has been showing up around San Jose in some of the unlikeliest of places. Automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, have been installed in shopping malls and schools, in offices and in factories and even at sporting arenas such as HP Pavillion. The reason behind those deployments is simple enough – in an emergency an automated external defibrillator can literally mean the difference between life and death.

An AED works by delivering a quick electrical impulse straight to the heart, shocking the heart back to its regular rhythm. Heart disease is a major problem in the United States, and the risks are only expected to get worse in the future. Those suffering from heart disease can suffer from a periodic loss of normal rhythm, and in some cases that can be fatal.

If an automated external defibrillator is available, trained personnel can use the device to shock the heart back to its regular rhythm while they wait for help to arrive. In many cases the simple act of using the AED combined with CPR can save the life of the individual.

In the Sports Arena

Automated external defibrillators have been showing up on football fields, soccer stadiums and other sports venues at an unprecedented rate. These devices are particularly popular in places where high school sports are played, and for a very good reason.

Over the past couple of years, there have been a number of high profile instances in which sports stars simply collapsed on the field, sometimes with tragic results. The problem is that some congenital heart defects can go completely unnoticed for years, even with regular medical exams. Those latent heart problems often become apparent only when the athlete has an attack during play.

Having an automated external defibrillator on hand allows the medical staff to act quickly, possibly saving the life of the young athlete. Many teachers and coaches have already been trained in the use of these lifesaving devices, and many more are expected to receive that training in the future.

Simple to Use

One of the advantages of an AED is that it is so simple to use. In an emergency, even an untrained person can successfully use an AED to shock the heart back to life, but it is still important for people to receive basic instruction in the use of these devices. The San Jose American Heart Association or the American Red Cross provides training on how to use these devices.

When a school, office building, factory or other venue receives a defibrillator, the management of the facility typically selects a number of key employees to receive extensive AED, CPR, and first-aid training. That training consists of instruction in the proper use of the AED, from removing the device from its storage area to using it on the patient. Using an AED is simple, and the training is about 3 hours. That ease of use is one more reason so many automated external defibrillators have been showing up in schools, offices, factories and sports arenas throughout the country.

For more information on purchasing an AED or becoming trained on how to use this life saving device, please contact the local American Heart Association office in San Jose.

BLS for Healthcare Providers classes in San Jose

Wednesday , 10/03/2012 at 5:00 pm

Friday , 10/05/2012 at 9:00 am

Friday , 10/12/2012 at 12:00 pm

Upcoming BLS classes in San Jose

San Jose BLS Certification Offers a Free American Heart Association BLS Study Guide

American Heart Association BLS Card

Free San Jose BLS Study Guide

Upcoming San Jose American Heart Association BLS for Healthcare Providers CPR Certification Class

San Jose CPR Certification is an American Heart Association Training Center located in San Jose, CA that provides AHA CPR, BLS, ACLS, and First-aid certification courses to the residents of Santa Clara County. Many people are required to take the AHA BLS for the Healthcare Providers CPR class including EMTs, dentists, nurses, nursing assistants, phlebotomists, physical therapists, and others in the medical and healthcare field. The American Heart Association BLS for the Healthcare Providers CPR class is about 4.5 hours long and continuing education credits are issued to dentists.

Before registering and taking the BLS course, it is recommended to study the skills of adult, child and infant CPR, chokesaving, how to use an AED (automated external defibrillator), how to use a CPR pocket mask, and how to use a bag valve mask. The BLS certification card is valid for two years, so it is a good idea to study before the renewal course. San Jose CPR Certification provides BLS renewal and BLS certification courses in Santa Clara County and also provides a Free San Jose BLS Study Guide.

San Jose CPR Certification is an official American Heart Association BLS Certification Training Center (license # CA-20784) which means the BLS certification cards can be issued on the day of the class, as opposed to other BLS training schools who must mail out the cards. Also students are not required to pay for the training until the day of the course. San Jose CPR Certification offers the lowest prices in Santa Clara County for American Heart Association BLS classes and is backed by the Low Price Guarantee.

The American Heart Association strongly promotes knowledge and proficiency in BLS, First-aid, ACLS, and PALS and has developed instructional materials for this purpose. Use of these materials in an educational course does not represent course sponsorship by the American Heart Association, and any fees charged for such a course do not represent income to the Association.

Register today for an American Heart Association BLS Class in San Jose or call for more information at (408) 724-9985.