November 4th, 2015
Our Training Specialist, Donny Wise, trains our Colleagues day in and day out on everything from Human Rights to Communication Skills to CPR & First Aid, and everything in between. But last week, he set some time aside for a new training, a very special training.
Last week, Donny ventured to our Wakefield site to train a group of Guests in CPR & First Aid. “Our Guests showed an interest in wanting to become certified in CPR and First Aid. They had been asking for a while, so we worked with Donny to make it happen,” said Alesia Matsis, the Program Director in Wakefield.
“It was great,” said Donny, “I was very surprised as to how much they knew going into it. They were well informed. It made my job, teaching them, a lot easier. I was happy to be able to work directly with our Guests.” Donny spread the class out over a two day period, providing hands-on training. He made a few changes to the class to make the training more fun and memorable, something we call WOW! Magic. He even had them doing chest compressions to “Staying Alive” because of it’s perfect tempo for the task.
“The program was fabulous. They all participated, they were interested, asking questions. They really enjoyed the class,” said Alesia. “Donny was an awesome trainer. He got right in the middle of everything, explained everything, and they were able to complete the course.”
Today their hard work culminated in the presentation of their American Heart Association CPR & First Aid certification cards. “I dreamt about getting my certification and helping someone,” said Andre, a Guest who completed the class and is now certified.
“I wanted to become certified so I can jump into action if something happens,” said Linda, a fellow Guest who completed the class and is also now certified.
Alesia said the Guests gained confidence through the training. “Anyone in this group would really help if they saw someone in distress. Because of this group they would be confident in assisting someone that was in need.” Confidence is exactly what Donny hoped it would give them. “I hope this really boosts their self-esteem and confidence, not just in CPR and First aid, but in life in general.
“The class was great. I now feel completely confident that if I was with any one of them and something happened to me, they would know what to do,” said Donny. He hopes to bring the CPR & First Aid Training for Guests to our other programs and locations in the near future.
Check out photos of our first class below. Congratulations to those who are now CPR & First Aid Certified: Andre D., Craig S., Jeanette D., John S., Kenneth B., Linda F., Patricia C., Phillis D., Robert N., and Ronald S.
Check out news coverage of our CPR class below or on page 6 of the December 2015 Valley Patriot.
This is so awesome! Congrats to each of our Guests for completing the course and becoming certified in CPR/FA. Way to go Wakefield Colleagues for recognizing that the guests had an interest in accomplishing something like this. Great job Donny! You are an excellent trainer!
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