Save 1CPR Grows, Opens Office in Ferndale for Classes (video)
(Crystal A. Proxmire, Sept. 10, 2014)
CPR is an easy skill to learn, yet according to the American Heart Association only 30% of Americans take the time to learn it. That’s why paramedic and AHA Certified Instructor Amanda Zimmerman started Save 1 CPR in 2012. It started out with her doing training at schools, businesses, community groups etc, and is now in their own facility at 23257 Woodward in Ferndale.
“We opened in 2012 with what was supposed to be a side business that really turned into a passion for teaching how to save lives. It’s always a fantastic surprise the clients that call. We teach Security companies, teachers, small children, healthcare providers and people from all walks of life and professions. The skills our clients learn in classes are skills not only important for the workplace but for their everyday lives as well, and it is something that everyone truly needs to know. The best compliment that we get from clients is when they say they feel much more confident in knowing what to do if the time comes,” Zimmerman said.
Training classes can now be done at their Ferndale office or her trainers can come to you, making it an ideal group activity. Classes can be done for one person, or dozens with one instructor per up to every eight people. State of the art “manikins” serve as the victims, whose chests rise and fall when breathing is done properly. In addition to CPR classes, Save 1 CPR offers babysitter training classes, certification for healthcare providers, blood borne pathogens training, and CPR for pets.
Their grand opening attracted many paramedic friends and supporters. Sandy Roegner of Whitmore Lake was there with a 1971 Cadillac ambulance that had served a small town just outside of Chicago. Roegner used to be a dispatcher for private ambulance companies in Farmington Hills, Ann Arbor and Novi. “I love EMTs,” she said. “EMTs, paramedics, and firefighters are givers. They always want to help people. And we need them because not everybody can handle emergency situations and keep their heads on their shoulders.”
The open house was also a benefit for Miles for Medics, an organization dedicated to raising money for EMTs and Firefighters in crisis. Timothy Kotulak of Northville started the organization after watching his father struggle with stress after being injured on the job. Kotulak is a paramedic, and his father was working at the same company. On February 13th, 2011 their lives changed. “My dad was a paramedic for over 40 years. One night he and his partner were driving back from a run and they saw a car veer off into the embankment. They stopped to help the driver and another car hit the vehicle and sent him flying into traffic. It was a hit and run and we never knew who did it.” Hi father suffered six broken ribs, broken vertebrae, thumb, jaw, nose, legs, and a lacerated liver. On top of that, he struggled with the stress of bills, expenses, and the change in his life as he was recovering.
Miles for Medics has since done 13 fundraising events for people who save lives that need help themselves, including the family of a paramedic who died in an airplane crash, a paramedic with breast cancer, and raising money for a boy in Cheboygan who had brain cancer to send him to paramedic school before he passed away.
Save 1 CPR works with Miles for Medics and other charities, including giving free training through the Boys and Girls Club and Detroit EMS Road Docs.
To learn more about Save 1 CPR, visit their website at www.save1cpr.com.