First Aid News

Digital Certificate Platform Goes Live on Monday, Nov. 13

Beginning Monday, Nov. 13, all First Aid participant and e-participant workbooks will be sold with digital certificates. That means no more paper certificates and no more lost certificates. 

If you have paper certificates in stock that you’d like to exchange for digital certificates, we can help. Send an email to [email protected], provide the total number of certificates you are exchanging, and include your Chapter, Training Center, or Instructor information. 

Want to get fully up to speed before this transition? Learn more at www.nsc.org/fa-certificate, where you’ll find a detailed user guide, a list of FAQs and video tutorials to help you transition to digital certificates. 

Staff Spotlight: Meet Carrie Bush, First Aid Program Manager

The November NSC First Aid Staff Spotlight shines on Carrie Bush, another NSC First Aid program manager. 

Carrie joined NSC in September 2022. She has a master of arts in counseling from Manhattan College and a bachelor of art in athletic training from Cedarville University. 

Some of Carrie’s additional qualifications include: 

● NATABOC Certified and Alabama licensed athletic trainer (sports medicine) 
● Six Sigma Black Belt 
● Additional certifications include NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Girls Gone Strong Pre and Postnatal Fitness Coach 
● NSC Basic Life Support and First Aid CPR/AED Instructor 
● Previous EMT and firefighter with additional training in FAST; rapid extrication of a down firefighter 
● Experience developing emergency action plans and community training around severe weather, natural disasters, acts of violence, home and commercial fires, and COVID-19 disaster response
● Taught Guatemalan Olympic Committee and National Federation of Sports 
● Completed multiple FEMA Incident Command Trainings

Carrie lives in Alabama but grew up in Ohio. She also previously lived in New York City/New Jersey. She is married and has two girls, 5 and 9 years old, and a golden retriever, Buckeye.

Carrie’s favorite NSC Value is Be NSC, collaborating across NSC with trust and respect to achieve NSC results. Carrie is a networker at heart and leads the NSC internal Emergency Preparedness and Response team, works on course developments, manages all NSC First Aid supply offerings and relationships with manufacturers and vendors, and stays on top of new trends in first aid.

Urgent Reminder for All NSC First Aid Instructors

Due to recent increased visibility of compression-only training, NSC would like to send this reminder to all first aid instructors. Rescue breathing is an essential part of NSC First Aid and must be taught in any NSC First Aid course where CPR is taught, including:

● First Aid 
● CPR & AED
● Basic Life Support
● Pediatric First Aid
● Advanced First Aid and Basic Life Support

Rescue breathing is included in the international guidelines instruction for CPR certification and must be taught to all participants seeking certification. A participant who learns hands-only/compression-only CPR is not certified in CPR and should not be issued a certification. 

Please note: First Aid instructors and Train the Trainer instructors teaching NSC courses involving CPR but leaving out rescue breathing are not in compliance with the ILCOR guidelines and therefore are not completing full certification requirements of the NSC course(s) being taught. 

If there are questions or confusion due to recent increased visibility of compression-only training, know that this is only meant to encourage those who are not certified to take action during a sudden cardiac arrest, as this is better than taking no action at all. One goal of hands-only/compression-only CPR, after all, is to encourage full certification, which includes rescue breaths. 

If any of your participants are hesitant about learning rescue breaths, keep in mind that the use of personal barrier devices during class, including but not limited to the CPR Training Kit (191880000) or Resusci Face Shields (191940000), reduces the risk of cross contamination while sharing a manikin during classroom instruction and are highly recommended. Remember, you are also responsible for decontaminating your manikins after each class per your manikin guidelines. 

While you must teach rescue breaths and instructor development courses must include teaching instructor candidates how to teach rescue breaths, some additional context may be helpful to share with your participants. It is acceptable to let participants know that in the event a CPR/AED certified individual does not have (1) a barrier device and (2) a duty to act, and they do not feel comfortable performing rescue breathing or they have a reasonable concern for their safety doing rescue breaths (for example, due to a concern of substance use), then performing hands-only/compression-only CPR is better for the victim of sudden cardiac arrest than not taking any action. 

If you have any additional questions or would like further clarification, please email [email protected].

Supplies Spotlight: Instructor Bundles

Setting up to successfully teach First Aid CPR & AED requires having key teaching supplies available in the classroom. Our NSC First Aid Instructor Bundle kits can help new instructors get set up to teach and help seasoned instructors conveniently replenish much needed supplies. 

From manikins and AED trainers to participant workbooks and more, buying in bundles saves money and simplifies the process for choosing which supplies to bring into the classroom. Check out this overview of our bundled offerings and see how our different kits can set you and your participants up for success.