Month: April 2018

Most of us look forward to family get-togethers and celebrations, never thinking that the happiness of such good times could be stolen in an instant. But that’s what almost happened to Amy Steelman and her two-year-old, Hannah, at a birthday party for Amy’s grandmother in Norman, Okla. in August, 2010.

Both Amy and Hannah were eager to reconnect with family, and all of the kids quickly ran out of sight and earshot.

“I had a sinking feeling when I couldn’t find her,” Amy said, thinking of her grandmother’s above-ground pool in the backyard. She ran outside and saw Hannah and a cousin floating face down in the water.

In Amy’s panic, she first tried a couple of breaths but they didn’t work. Her cousin suggested compressions. Thanks to CPR, both little girls survived.

Can you tell us what you did?
I started the compressions. It only took one round, and she started coughing and vomiting. She was crying, and she had this faraway look in her eyes. It was so scary.

How in the world did you stay calm?

I knew I had to do something. In my senior year of high school, I did a nursing option program, and I learned CPR. I just knew I had to save my daughter. I think I had this feeling that I just had to be strong, that I really had to keep it all together.

How did Hannah react to all of this?

When they put us in the ambulance, they would not let me in the back with her. I could hear her crying from the front, and I think she could hear my voice. She was crying for me, so it was really hard. I just kept trying to talk to her so she could hear me.

Later, she didn’t remember what happened. All she said was that she went swimming and then she went ‘night night.’  It broke my heart.

How is Hannah now?

Hannah is great! She just learned Hands-Only CPR through her Girl Scout troop. I’m her troop leader, and I brought in some CPR trainers from Tulsa. It was very emotional. When the class started, I cried, just watching her listen to the instructor and thinking of how CPR had saved her life that day years ago. And now, she’ll be in the position to save someone else’s life.

And how about you?

I tell everyone I know — parents, grandparents, babysitters — that everyone needs to know CPR.  We wouldn’t have Hannah if it weren’t for Hands-Only CPR. I thank God I knew CPR. wouldn’t have my Hannah without it.

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More than 7,000 children suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest annually. Parents and caregivers are among the most important people to be trained in infant CPR, which can make a life or death difference. The American Heart Association’s Infant CPR Anytime Training Kit allows anyone to learn the lifesaving skills of infant CPR and choking relief  in less than 20 minutes from the comfort of their home or workplace.

How does a medical professional take skills learned in the field and translate them into a new career? One path forward is entrepreneurship. Today the CPR & First Aid Blog talks with Josh Dishaw, founder of RESTART in Middlebury, Vermont. 

Q: Josh, thank you for speaking with us. Would you start by sharing a little about your background?

A: Of course. I started by getting my undergrad degree in geology, which was a terrible idea! I then joined my local volunteer fire department when I was 21. I moved into EMS from there and spent the better part of 18 years as a pre-hospital medic.

For the past five years, my full-time job has been teaching Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advance Life Support (PALS), and more. My business contracts these education services out to hospitals, bringing high-quality Association education to hospital staff.

Q: What inspired you to switch from working as a medic to owner-operator of a training company?

A: I love a challenge, and I felt that I had reached the highest point I could go in EMS. I didn’t want to have to fight feelings of complacency in my work.

I knew I wanted to do something different, but I also wanted to keep helping people. So I returned to school in 2010 and earned my master’s degree in education. That degree helped me conceive of my business, where I marry classroom education with healthcare.

Q: You have a unique approach to training. Would you tell us more?

A: I went to a non-traditional education program, and it taught me that every person in a classroom is going to learn in their own unique way.

Knowing that, in my program I take AHA’s instruction material and lay the information out for everyone to embrace in their own way. I then use open-ended questions to get everyone talking and working as a team. The important technique here is to use what comes naturally.

For example, when discussing a technique, I ask the class “why this method?” Someone typically responds, but usually only gives part of the answer. I take that and ask the classroom to elaborate. Soon we have everyone talking and the class has figured out the right answer without my having to do much one-way lecturing.

Q: What do you view as the key to your continued growth and success?

A: It goes back to fighting complacency. When you stop being a student yourself, you’re going to get stuck. Be receptive to new techniques and ideas.

Q: What would you advise to others who also want to expand their careers?

A: Keep an open mind and look for a niche you would like to be involved in. It’s tough, particularly when you want to do something familiar in a new way. You need grit, and you need to get out there and talk to people. If you have a good product, get it out there and let word-of-mouth work for you.