Even CPR Instructors have to be monitored and vetted every 2 years to maintain their certification. This week I set down with an AHA Training Faculty member who is responsible for monitoring instructors. During instructor monitoring, instructors are observed teaching a class and then given feedback. This training faculty member gave me the lowdown on the most common mistakes CPR instructors make in their classes. The feedback isn’t what you would expect either. Are you guilty of any of these mistakes?Read below to find out!

# 3. Talking Too Much

First up, let’s discuss how much an instructor should talk in class. The tendency most instructors have is to talk too much. Whether instructors are nervous or too comfortable, talking more than necessary is a bad habit many have.

Many instructors fall into this habit in an attempt to be personable. Being personable is important to help your students feel comfortable in class. When students feel at ease they are more likely to engage and ask questions. However, the fall back of being ‘too personable’ is that your personality or stories can detract from the curriculum.

While first hand experience with First Aid and CPR response can be enlightening for students, it can also be distracting from the content. The best CPR instructors are usually people who have both experience in the field, but also understand their role as a facilitator in the classroom. In one study, the American Heart Association (AHA) found that students understanding of class content was better when they learned only from watching videos. When videos were combined with instructor facilitation, comprehension decreased.

In a perfect world, videos and personal instruction is ideal. However, this requires instructors to be discerning on what is shared with their audience. Many CPR instructors get in the way of delivering content by confusing students with stories. Students may misunderstand information shared and come to the wrong conclusions. Even worse, students may hear stories and be discouraged from feeling like they could use their skills in an emergency.

How to Avoid Talking Too Much:

The best tip is to keep stories to a minimum. Save stories or FAQ time for a snack or coffee break time instead of weaving it into a class. Remember that most content has been thoughtfully put together and trialed to give students the best chance of retaining information. Adding more content can make it hard for students to remember even the basics.

#2. Prevent Student Error

Next up, we discussed a good instructors ability to anticipate student error. Obviously, you can’t anticipate everything. However, most students are predictable and the same common errors happen over and over.

One of the best feedback tools for instructors is the skills tests and written tests. When testing a class, the instructor should examine if multiple students made the same errors. If this is the case, the instructor should evaluate how their teaching should be changed to prevent these errors in the future.

For example, one error a lot of students make is performing chest compressions during at too high (>120bpm) of a rate during CPR. Any instructor that has taught a few classes will witness this. A good instructor will remind students of compression rate and briefly explain that faster compressions are not better compressions. Instructors also have tools like the Prestan Professional Adult CPR Manikin that give students instant feedback on their compression rate.

Another example are questions missed on a test. It’s important that instructors review ANY and EVERY missed question on an exam. Regardless if the student made a passing score, it’s important that the instructor take the opportunity to correct any misunderstandings of class information. Furthermore, this is an opportunity for instructors to consider how they can prevent misunderstandings earlier in the class.

#1. Not Following the Agenda

Gasp… the top error instructors make is simply not following the course agenda. Instructors are required to follow the given agenda in certifying classes. However, many instructors teach what they’ve been taught and never study the material in detail. Remember how we talked about how students learn better with video only content? One reason this is true is because instructors do not follow the curriculum the way that videos do.

Failure to adhere to the agenda is the number one issue reported during instructor monitoring. Many instructors don’t think it’s a big deal because they have seen others do it. Similar to speeding, many people don’t think it’s a big deal until they have to deal with the consequences of it. People speed all the time and it’s generally not an issue until they’re caught or someone gets hurt. CPR and First Aid education is the same way. CPR Instructors and students that take courses that do not follow the agenda open themselves up to lawsuit. Both CPR instructors and CPR certified card holders have been sued for wrongful death because of this error.

Every AHA instructor is required to have both a copy of the student manual and instructor manual. When being monitored instructors must show that they have both of these items. In the instructor manual are several different lesson plan options. While lesson plans vary based on full course, renewal courses, blended courses, etc… a lesson plan must be used for every class. Under no circumstances are instructors allowed to blend agendas or skip parts of the curriculum. When an instructor issues a certification they are validating that the student completed the curriculum as it was designed to be completed.

Conclusion

Quality assurance is so important in

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healthcare education. The way students are taught can be the difference between life or death for the victims they encounter. Be sure to take the time to evaluate your teaching habits and make sure you set yourself up for success when you’re monitored sometime in the next two years. Furthermore, make sure that your students are set up for success and ready to help one of your loved ones in the event of an emergency.

CPR Instructor Renewal Requirements: Read here.

Have You Lost Your CPR card or certification?

If you are trying to find your CPR or First Aid certification, we are here to help. First off, if you took your class in the last two years, then it’s likely your certification was sent to you digitally. If you remember getting a paper certification, it’s likely your class was taught more than two years ago and your certification is expired. CPR, BLS, and First Aid certifications last for two years before they need to be retaken. However, it’s still possible to get a paper card given to you but generally this is for non state approved certification courses. If you’re needing a CPR certification for work, it likely needs to be through the American Heart Association (AHA), American Red Cross (ARC), or Health & Safety Institute (HSI). Each of these organizations sends certifications digitally. 

Where can I find my online CPR certification?

If you received training through the AHA, ARC, or HSI you will get an email from the organization with your electronic certification. You could search your email for this certification.

However, you can also search online for your certification. For classes taken through the American Heart Association you can go to https://ecards.heart.org/student/myecards and use the name and email you signed up for class with to search. By doing this you will be able to find your CPR, First Aid, BLS, ACLS, or PALS certification card taken through the AHA. Employers can use this web page to verify that CPR certificates are legitimate as well.

To learn more about spotting fake CPR cards, read ‘How to Spot Fake CPR Cards.’

If you took a CPR class through the Red Cross, you can search on their site here. The process is similar and you can enter in your name and email address. Employers can also use this web page to verify that CPR certificates are legitimate.

How to Get Certification Card from CPR Instructor

If you recently took a CPR course and didn’t receive your card, you will want to contact your instructor. The AHA and Red Cross are not able to issue certifications for instructors. Training Centers have up to 20 business days to send students their certification card. If you are needing your certification sooner, you will want to make sure that is possible from your instructor before taking a class with them.

After waiting up to 20 days, if you haven’t received your certification, you should contact your instructor and make sure they have the correct information for you. It is possible that your email was typed wrong which could be a reason to not receive the certification card via email.

How Do I Get a New CPR Certification?

If your certification is expired or unable to be found, you will need to take a new CPR certification class. You can find a local instructor near you on Class Eagle Health & Safety Instructor Directory. On this directory, you can select if you have a preference from American Heart Association classes or Red Cross. Both CPR class brands offer full in person CPR classes or online blended classes. Online blended classes require that you complete the course online and do skills practice in person with an instructor. Because CPR is a physical skill, it requires the hands on practice. Furthermore, studies show without the hands on practice people do not feel confident in their ability to help in case of emergency. 

Watch: Can You Get Your CPR Certification Online?

Review of CPR Manikins: Prestan Family Pack

One of the most popular CPR Manikin packs offered is the Prestan Family pack. Today we are going to review the Prestan family pack. The Prestan family pack is made up of Prestan’s professional series of mannequins.

The pack includes two adult manikins, two infant manikins, and 1 child manikin. The pack is ideal for CPR instructors getting started who want to get a discounted price for buying multiple manikins. The manikin pricing is better if you buy it as a package rather than buying them individually.

Are Prestan Family Pack Manikins AHA complaint?

The American Heart Association (AHA) and American Red Cross (ARC) now require that Basic Life support instructors use manikins with feedback devices. Prestan mannequins are completely AHA compliant and give feedback on both your compression rate and depth. There is visual feedback built into the manikins with a light system in the shoulder and an audible feedback with a clicking sound in the chest as you do your compressions.

The light system in Prestan products is very helpful to let students know if they are performing compressions at the right tempo. This allows students to self correct if the instructor is working with another student at the time. A solid green light means the compressions are at the correct tempo. A yellow light indicates slow compressions, and a red light indicates no compressions detected.

Prestan Family Pack Manikin Diversity

The family pack of manikins comes in both a medium skintone and a dark skintone.

Prestan also offers a Take-2 pack that has 2 adult manikins, 2 infant manikins, and 2 AED trainers. However, the child manikin is excluded from the pack. Most of the time instructors will use the adult mannequins even for the child practice because effectively it is the same thing as far as the depth and the rate of compressions. You can tell the adult is slightly taller by 2.5 inches and the the chest is about an inch and a half deeper than the child.  The only other distinguishing characteristic is that the child has a hairline whereas the adult is seemingly bald. The Take-2 pack can be purchased in either medium or dark skin as well as in a ‘diversity pack’ that is a combination of both skin tones.

These manikins also come with the option to add a female accessory. Studies have shown that women are less likely to receive CPR than men. Because of this, Prestan has added this option to help people get more comfortable with performing CPR compressions on a female victim.

Durability & Longevity

Prestan manikins first came on the market in 2004. Since our initial purchase of Prestan manikins, we have yet to replace any. These manikins are made from a very durable material and they have held up to considerable use and cleaning. If a manikin part or skin was to be the victim of damage, replacement parts can be purchased instead of replacing the entire manikin.

Critiques

We’re really getting into the nitty gritty here, but the area for most improvement with the Prestan family pack is the carry bag that it comes with. The manikins seemingly live forever, but the nylon bag wears down after 5-10 years of heavy use. To be fair, it’s unlikely that any other lightweight bag would fair better. Most any CPR instructor will tell you that hauling around equipment can be difficult and that your equipment may get more wear and tear from being transported than being used.

 

Final Remarks

If you are looking to up your game with quality manikins or you are just getting started; the Prestan Family Pack could be a really good option for you to kick start into the Prestan family. If you already have Prestan and you are looking to get some more; rather than buying them individually you might want to invest and purchase a family pack. Prestan has their ‘Take2’ value kit as well. It comes with two adults, two infants, and then two AED ultra trainers.

Learn More: Top 3 CPR Equipment Products to Engage Your Students.

CPR Equipment can be a big investment. If you are looking to save money on your purchase or possibly recoup your investment, you should consider buying and selling used CPR equipment. CPR Supply Source offers a platform for instructors to post their used equipment to a used CPR equipment ‘marketplace.’

Shopping for Used CPR Equipment

A great way to save when starting out as a CPR Instructor, is to purchase item used CPR Equipment. Generally, CPR equipment is very durable and stays in good condition. There are a lot of people who have even purchased equipment and never used it.

When shopping used CPR equipment, you will want to be sure to find equipment that meets the requirements set forth by the organizations you teach for. For example, the American Heart Association (AHA) requires that BLS classes be instructed with manikins that have feedback devices. You can read more about those requirements in this article: The Difference Between BLS and CPR Manikins.

Many hospitals or EMS agencies upgrade equipment regularly. You can find great deals on more expensive equipment, like Airway Heads that usually retail new around $1,300. 

Selling Used CPR Equipment

CPR Equipment holds its value fairly well. If you are upgrading your equipment, you should consider selling the equipment you are replacing. However, connecting with people in your area to purchase the equipment may prove to take more time than it is worth. Instead, listing your equipment on the CPR Supply Source Marketplace involves very little time.

You can simply list your equipment on the Marketplace and then wait for someone to purchase it. You won’t need to worry about communicating with people that want to haggle or ask a lot of questions.

 

How to Sell CPR Equipment in the Marketplace:

1. Register a Vendor account with CPR Supply Source.
2. Registration involves three forms to build out your Marketplace account. You can skip some information, but will need to complete the entire registration in order to be paid when your equipment sells.
3. Add equipment for sale.
4. Fill out the description as completely as possible.
5. Upload as many pictures as you can. The more pictures of equipment you add, the more comfortable you will make someone feel about buying it.
6. Set the sale price and build in the cost of shipping.
7. You will be notified when your item is sold and given directions for shipping.
8. Once your item is shipped and received by the customer, you will be paid.

How to Price Used Equipment

The price of used CPR Equipment is going to vary depending on what it is and how much it has been used. If the items are compatible with current training requirements and in like new condition 20-30% off retail is recommended. If the items have seen a lot of use but are still in good condition, generally 50-60% off retail is the right price.

Some items, such as very outdated manikins, may have little to no value. However, some people may be interested in these for purposes outside of CPR Training. Pricing these items at the cost of shipping plus some money for your time is ideal. It’s better to see items repurposed then in a landfill! You never know what creative use someone may have for older equipment.

F.A.Q.:

Q. Is there a service fee?

• Similar to platforms like eBay, there is a 15% service fee to the site.

Q. How do I get paid?

• When items are sold, sellers will receive money via direct deposit.

Q. How long will it take my item to sell?

• The amount of time to sell equipment varies and depends on demand and the pricing.

Q. What can I sell on the marketplace?

• Any training equipment used in CPR and lifesaving education may be sold on the site.

Q. Can I sell new CPR Equipment?

• You can sell new products, but we recommend discounting them to be more appealing.

Learn More: BLS CPR Manikin Requirements

There are many AHA CPR Instructors, however only some may train other people to be CPR Instructors. This designation is awarded by a CPR Instructors Training Center. It is up to the Training Centers discretion to decide who may be a good fit.

Who qualifies to become a CPR Instructor Trainer? We will discuss this is and the requirements below. Additionally, read on to find out more about the responsibilities of a CPR Instructor Trainer.

Structure of the AHA Training Network

As an AHA Instructor, you were trained through a Training Center. Depending on the Training Center, you may be an instructor directly with them or you may teach through a Training Site.

AHA Training Centers are responsible for the administration and quality of all AHA courses taught by the instructors. Training Centers are also responsible for communicating new guidelines and procedures for class administration to the instructors aligned with them.

For information about how to become an AHA Training Center, read: “How to Become and AHA Training Center.”

Every Training Center will appoint at least 1 ‘Training Faculty’ in the disciplines they teach. The AHA Program Administration Manual (PAM) recommends that Training Centers maintain a ratio of 1 Training Faculty per every 8 instructors aligned with them. However, if a Training Site has less than 12 instructors, just 1 Training Faculty is acceptable. (See page 7, in PAM)

What do AHA Training Faculty do?

Training Faculty are responsible for training new AHA Instructors and monitoring or recertifying existing instructors.

Training New CPR Instructors:

• In order to teach CPR Instructor Classes, an AHA instructor must be a Training Faculty member and have explicit permission from the AHA Training Center that they may teach instructor courses.
• Permission must be given for each course discipline. (If someone is a BLS Training Faculty member, they may teach BLS and Heartsaver Instructor Courses. However, they may not teach ACLS or PALS instructor courses unless their TC awards them as faculty members in this discipline as well.)
• Some people may be Training Faculty that only have permission from their TC to monitor and recertify existing instructors. This is entirely up to the TC’s discretion.

Monitoring and Re Certifying Existing Instructors

• Upon completion of the instructor essentials course training, AHA Instructor Candidates must be monitored by a Training Faculty Member before they become official instructors.
• Within 90 days prior to an instructors certification expiration, they must be monitored by a TF to maintain their status.

Who Qualifies to be AHA Training Center Faculty?

AHA Training Faculty must first be recognized as eligible by their Training Center. Each Training Center may have their own qualifications. Typically, Training Centers look for instructors that are very experienced in teaching themselves. It is important that instructors be well versed in the materials and how to run a classroom in order to teach others how to do so. CPR Instructor Trainers should be some of the best CPR Instructors.

Next, it’s important that Training Faculty Members be able to manage administrative tasks. The role involves completing paperwork and managing those records. Next, it’s important to have systems in place to know when instructors need to be monitored. While it is the individual instructors responsibility to make sure they get monitored, it is helpful when Training Faculty members are ahead of the game and keep instructors from lapsing.

Are Training Faculty Members ‘transferable?’

Training Center Faculty status is an appointment of a Training Center and is an internal position to that Training Center only. If you have TCF status and transfer to another Training Center, it does not confer. However, in most situations a Training Center will recognize the status if an instructor has well kept paperwork and comes from a reputable organization. This is entirely up to the Training Center’s discretion though, and not a status any instructor is entitled to.

Training Faculty Training

It is the responsibility of each Training Center to develop their own process of how to train Training Faculty Members. There is not an AHA course for this, but instead each TF should be well versed the AHA PAM and course administration standards.

Conclusion

If you would like to certify others to be AHA Instructors, you will first need to become a Training Faculty Member under your Training Center. If you are teaching through a Training Site, you will first want to contact them about becoming a TF. If you are aligned directly with a Training Center, you should contact their Training Center Coordinator.

If your Training Center does not wish to make you a Faculty Member, you should inquire why. If it is due to inexperience, then it is likely that other Training Centers would hold the same concern. However, some Training Centers may have policies not to allow Training Faculty members to be from outside their organization (such as a hospital or EMS agency). If this is the case, you may consider aligning with a different Training Center. Read: How to Find the Right AHA Training Center.

How to Become an AHA Training Site:

 

 

How to Hire and Maintain Quality Instructors

CPR classes depend on CPR instructors. It is critical that CPR instructors be well trained in the lifesaving skills they teach in order to be effective. Let’s discuss how to find, hire and retain good, quality Instructors.

The first advice we give to aspiring CPR businesses, is to hire an instructor almost from day one. The sooner you can bring another instructor on board, the sooner you will see your business grow. It may be difficult to understand until you do it, but even if you do not have a single client yet, we still reccomend hiring another instructor. The exercise of hiring an instructor, interacting and engaging with somebody else within your business helps a lot. 

Additionally, staying ahead of demand will help ensure that you do not turn away business. Hiring sooner than later will help prevent business being bottle necked as you grow. It would be better to have someone and not need them, then to wait and try to hire when you are too busy to train someone. We suggest that even if you do not have a ton of classes give your instructor, give them at least one class a month. This will help you work out the logistics such as invoicing, payroll, and a second set of eyes on your systems and processes. Businesses that operate on a growth mindset are the businesses that succeed. Delegating roles and responsibilities to others is the only way you can continue to take on more and more business.

Businesses operated in by just one person allow an individual to work in their own way and be comfortable in their own processes. Often times, when you hire more people, you will experience growing pains and have inefficient processes revealed. When you are doing business on your own, you do what works for you, but when you bring other people in what works for you, may not work for them.  These processes are oftentimes even simple things like: how do they get into the building, how are they going to access equipment, and how long can they have equipment for when they’re going off to teach a class for you? It is important that you think through all of these things before you are forced to have to think about them and then end up scrambling.

Hiring early before you actually need to hire works tremendously for your business and will take you to the next level so much quicker. 

How To Find Candidates

How do you find instructors?  The first thing most businesses try is is word of mouth- you can ask friends and colleagues, “Hey do you know anybody who’d be interested?” However, that only lasts for so long. Typically people run out of resources and connections after a while. Looking to friends of friends connections by sharing a post on Facebook or LinkedIn can produce really good connections. 

At the end of the day, when you need to find instructors and your network is tapped out, we have seen the best response with Indeed. We recommend using an ad to write about your company and what you are looking for. It’s important that you explain what you are looking for because you do not want to waste your time talking with people who are just looking for a paycheck. Instead, you want to connect with people who can align with your companies vision and care about what you do.

In your job description, talk about values and work to draw people in based on that. We always say that we hire for character and train for talent. This is critical and has contributed to a lot of our success. High quality and character driven people will help your organization succeed and do more than just get classes covered. 

Search Health & Safety Instructor Directories.

Hiring people that are already CPR Instructors can save you a lot of time in training. Even if they don’t teach the brand of CPR (AHA, ARC, or HSI) that you normally teach, it can be easier to bridge over an instructor. Be sure to search the Class Eagle Health and Safety Directory for instructors near you.

Furthermore, make sure you have a business account on the directory site to get class leads as well. There is no cost to use the basic version of the site!

What to look for in an Instructor Candidate

Looking for a baseline of professionalism is important. We suggest requiring a resumė. If there is no resumė attached to our candidates application, then we are not hiring them. We want people of a certain caliber who have a professional looking resumė and then we review that resumė.

We start by asking questions such as “how long has this person held a job?” Looking for longevity in positions is important. People bouncing from job to job every year may not be worth your time investment. 

If they send us a resume with a huge list of accolades, we probably are not going to go for them. The first reason being, there is a real concern and an issue with a lot of people wanting to become a CPR instructor just to get another feather in their cap. These candidates will have a list of their certifications and they are just collectors for more certifications. They will have for a huge resume and a huge amount of experience, but as soon as they get that feather in their cap and they become an instructor they quickly move on to the next thing.

Another reason why you may not want to hire someone with an expansive resumė, is that it can indicate a little bit of an ego as well. We still reach out to these candidates for a phone interview, but it is generally pretty evident that they are not going to be a good fit for our company. This isn’t to say that you should hire people without a lot of experience, but rather look for people with humility and a streamlined resume. 

Conducting Interviews 

Once you cull resumes, pick a handful of people and start doing phone interviews. Talking on the phone helps gauge interest and fit before investing the time in an in person, formal interview. You should have a set of questions that you ask each candidate. These questions could be things like:

• What do you know about our business?
• What draws you to working for our business?
• What are your career objectives?

You should listen to see how the people resonate with your values and mission. It can be surprising how indifferent some people are and how honest they are about it. These people you can quickly mark off your list.

After phone interviews, we recommend setting up a video interview. This will help you see how they present themselves and make sure that what they said in the phone interview matches their face to face professionalism and character. 

In our business, if people do well in the video interview, then we hire them on. We use a program called “Zenefits” to handle our HR. It automates sending all hiring paperwork. Paperwork, independent contractor agreements, and several other policies and procedures are signed electronically. After this is complete, we set up an in person orientation. If the new hire is not already an instructor, we will put them through an instructor class and then do an orientation.

If you decide to investment the time in making a new hire an instructor, it may be prudent to have an agreement with them that they teach a certain number of classes for you. This will guarantee that your time is paid for in making them an instructor. Some companies may opt to make this a formal agreement on paper. However, we have had a positive experience just having an upfront conversation about this.

Training and Orientation

Our instructor orientations take about two hours. We run orientation off a checklist that is about five pages long. The orientation is very systematic for two reasons: We want to set instructors up for success and we want to make sure that they are representing our brand well. A thorough orientations makes sure that they feel confident when they come to teach their first class.

Additionally, we also want to have documentation of the orientation. Standardization of this process will help your business grow while maintaining quality. You do not want everybody getting a different type of training. We recommend developing your own orientation checklist, even for your first hire. You will likely grow that document and change it over time, but it’s important to start with something. 

Conclusion

This process is tried and true for us. It works well and we have a pretty good retention rate. Obviously,  there is a shelf life of any employee. Many people do move on as it is more a part time job or supplemental income. While it’s sad to see employees who often become friends in this industry move on, it is okay and we are grateful for the time we have every good employee. We don’t have hard feelings when instructors decide to leave us because we want our instructors to be successful in life and be able to pursue their goals and their dreams. 

Many of our best instructors have been nursing students, post military serviceman, or retired first responders. These are professional people in a unique stage of life looking for good income while they eventually move onto other things.

Have you been asked to quote a large contract as a CPR company? The feeling can be exciting and nerve wrecking all at the same time. For some people, a contract is just what they are looking for to give them some more stability and consistent work. However, contracts can be very tricky and put businesses in a tough spot if the work is not quoted thoughtfully. CPR Instructor Affiliates will break down the items you should consider and help put you on a path to confidence in the quotes that you give.

Prepare, Align, & Execute to Win Contracts

First, let’s reflect on these words from the Small Business Administration: “Many companies aspire to do contractual work for the federal government. The reality however, is most will not.” While these words may not seem the most encouraging, they do reflect reality. Keeping this truth in mind as you navigate the process can save you from overtaxing too much of your energy.

The SBA gives some reasons why most people will never win federal government contracts. They state some business are just not qualified, some are overpriced, and some will just talk about it but never follow through. Others, simply don’t understand how to prepare proposals that get attention and win contracts.

The best preparation for winning large contracts is understanding the process, being able to meet the needs required, and following-through. Prepare, align, and execute. Each of the steps must be followed by another otherwise there is no chance for success.

We rarely pass up an opportunity for business and have been surprised at the business we win and the business we lose. Sometimes, there doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason. We want to help you put your best foot forward, but remind you to stay level headed and focused on your long term goals as a business owner.

#1. Read the Details

Typically large contracts ask you to quote something very specific. While smaller clients may come to you asking for ‘just CPR training,’ usually large contracts come from regulated industries that need specific training. Be sure to read the full ‘Request for Price’ (RFP) to quote the correct thing. They likely stipulate a specific brand of training and ask you to either include the cost of student manuals in the price or to itemize the pricing. For example, most government contracts are usually for Heartsaver CPR & First Aid training that meets OSHA requirements.

If the request is not specific, we always recommend being as detailed as possible so the company compares your request fairly against other quotes. If another quote doesn’t itemize books, the company may ask realize that their price doesn’t include the books and is actually higher than the price you have quoted. Regardless, it’s always in your favor to be as clear as possible. Well itemized quotes look the most professional and show that you know what you are doing. Remember, you can always call the procurement director and ask for clarification on what course type they desire.

#2. The Price is Right

You can check with the procurement department or procurement director to see what previous contracts have been accepted. Typically this is public information that they will allow you to examine as a resourceful tool in preparing your RFP.

However, know that larger companies look for time savings and value over the cheapest price. The phrase ‘you get what you pay for’ is usually true. Larger companies know that choosing the cheapest option could actually cost them more. If they hire an inexperienced service provider that doesn’t have the ability to fulfill the job they can be caught shorthanded and need to hire someone at much higher convenience pricing to fix the problem. Therefore, it’s important not to join the race to the bottom- do not just simply bid less than the other bids. This is tactic is rarely successful.

Instead, be thoughtful in how you quote your pricing. Make sure that your quote gives you the profit margin you need to stay in business. Furthermore, make sure your pricing is scalable. Cutting out ‘the middle man’ and not having a team to help you, is not a scaleable business practice. You may be able to pocket more money in the short term but you can’t grow your business very much this way. It’s likely to fulfill a large contract and maintain the rest of your business that you may need to hire an employee. Make sure the pricing you set affords you to pay for labor other than your own.

#3. Demonstrate Your Potential

If you’ve ever had construction done on your house, then you probably know that there can be a huge difference in quality based on the contractor. As the homeowner, your job is to vet a contractor based on their proposal, experience, and cost. Likewise, when bidding health and safety training contracts, the companies are usually looking for applications that demonstrate potential.

Typically, there are questions on the RFP’s that ask you to qualify your experience and training. Use this opportunity to put your best foot forward and show that you are a reliable, trustworthy, and quality health and safety training business. If you have employee’s, be sure to mention this as it demonstrates stability in your ability to source instructors last minute if needed.

If you have previous experience fulfilling contracts or working with them, mention this on your application. Help connect with the business that you understand their needs and can meet their expectations.

#4. Stake Your Claim

It’s unlikely that you will get a letter from Uncle Sam asking you to apply for a contract just because you exist. You will need to register in the System for Award Management. Here you will develop a small business profile and a capability statement. From there you can search for contract opportunities.

It’s worth noting, Federal Law requires that 23% of federal contracts be awarded to small businesses. Furthermore, minority owned small businesses can position themselves to be awarded a larger percentage of these contracts. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has a business development program that helps minority entrepreneurs better compete against their peers for contracts to be awarded.

To qualify for the SBA Business Development Program, your business needs to:

• Meet SBA’s standards of a small business (It probably does if your revenue is less than 10 million/year. You can view the SBA Size Standards here.)
• Have majority ownership (51% or more) by a U.S. citizen that is socially or economically disadvantaged. (Program aims to target the following groups: Women, Veterans, Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, and Service Disabled entrepreneurs.
• Show the owners net worth is less than 750k, gross income less than 350k, and assets worth no more than 6 million.
• Demonstrate potential to perform and strong character.

If you qualify for the SBA Business Development Program you will be offered a host of resources to help you apply for contracts. Read more about those resources here.

#5. Make a Thorough Proposal

As we discussed earlier, a thorough proposal establishes your ability to meet the contracts needs. Pay attention to any specifics regarding how you list prices. Some proposals may want you to divide costs out per student and others may want you to divide costs by individual expense’s. These expenses may include, cost of certification card, cost of student manual, cost of instructor time, travel expense, and equipment.

For travel costs, you can use the Federal per diem generator.

Pay attention to any stipulations the RFP has for minimum or maximum class sizes. Generally they will ask you to quote training a certain number of students in a certain amount of classes.

#6. Getting Paid

Large contracts usually pay a retainer or pay in net terms. The way you are paid is important to consider to cashflow your business operations properly. For example, if you don’t have enough funds to purchase a significant amount of textbooks prior to being paid you may want to stagger your orders as payment is remitted.

One note about purchasing books: Getting the best price possible will help you be competitive in these quotes without losing the shirt on your back. Check out our Referral Program where you can buy CPR Curriculum, AED’s and more at a discount or for a commision. See this video demonstration:

#7. Stay Diversified

Government contracts and other contracts are alluring but they are only contracts that usually last 2-5 years. Once the contract expires, it is usually put out for bid again and you have no guarantee you will win it. You will want to make sure not to neglect other business when taking on larger work. Work to continue to meet your current customers needs and stay hungry for new business.

Many businesses have been put out of business by relying too much on one or two contracts. Other businesses have taken huge hits to their revenue stream when they lose a contract. A company can go from being a 5 million dollar company to a 2.5 million dollar company over night. It can take years to recover from that kind of business loss, especially if you don’t have other business. One contract should never make or break you.

Final Notes

We’ll conclude with some words from a Health and Safety business owner: “You can lose your shirt on contracts. Don’t bid too low. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Keep diversifying while under contract so you have a fall back if you don’t renew the contract. If you win a contract, celebrate big- but then get back to work!”

For information on how to market your CPR business, read “Effective Methods for Marketing Your CPR Business.”

 

 

How to Assign AHA eCards to Students

Did you know that after teaching an American Heart Association (AHA) course, the instructor is required to send a course completion card? According to AHA’s Program Administration Manual (PAM), “Each student who successfully completes an AHA ECC course must be issued the appropriate course completion card unless prohibited by local or state statutes or regulations.” Even if students do not need to receive a certification card, they are required to be sent to them anyway.

Furthermore, the AHA’s PAM states that “All course completion cards must be in students’ hands as quickly as possible. Training Centers must issue eCards or course completion cards within 20 business days after receipt of completed paperwork.”

So, let’s talk about how to issue eCards to your students. The process is very simple, and we will walk you through it.

Steps to Assign AHA eCards:

1. Open your web browser and go to www.cpr.heart.org
2. Login to your account.
3. Click the logo for the AHA Instructor Network.
4. Underneath ‘Dashboard,’ scroll down and click the ‘eCards’ tab.
5. Next select ‘assign to student’.
6. Choose the discipline for the eCard type you are assigning.
7. Select ‘Prime Medical Training’ as your Training Center.
8. Next, select the instructor’s name.
9. Upload a class roster from an excel document and click ‘submit.’
   • If not using an excel document, enter the number of students you are assigning cards
   • Next, scroll down to enter in their personal information.
   • When complete, press ‘Submit’ at the bottom of the page.

Step by Step Video Demonstration:

AHA Training Center Alignment

You must be aligned and have current instructor certification with an American Heart Association Training Center to send eCards. If you are looking to align with an AHA Training Center, please read our article about alignment with us.