American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter

As my friends on Yelp might know, I'm a psychiatrist who works in the East Oakland ghetto. Only my Facebook friends know what's going on right now. We have to sell our house, I have parents in Germany, and I found a great job in Germany working for the US military as a civilian. But they require a whole slew of medical tests and certifications.

So I needed the basic CPR stuff again. Being a physician working in psychiatry in an outpatient clinic, I haven't been certified in over 5 years. But I've taken maybe 4 or 5 courses in the past. "Annie, Annie, are you all right?" And the courses were all pretty dry, boring and to the point. Get in, get out! Here's your card.

Well, to get certified again I wanted a quick way out. I found an online course. Paid my money, downloaded the material, and actually studied the material and took the test without cheating. I felt great. But, not practical tests. And my future employer said it wasn't approved by the AHA. Duh! My bad. So then I signed up for a "real" class online. Location was San Leandro. Got three confirmation/reminders. Showed up and no one was there. (See my previous yelp review.)

Finally I signed up online with the Red Cross. Had to wait several weeks but got this great Alameda location.

Now to the bottom line: this was the best course I've ever taken for CPR/BCLS. The intructor Aaron was awesome. He really cared about helping people. He made it interesting. He challenged us with questions and decisions, but he never judged us. He is an excellent teacher providing positive feedback and encouragement.

I can highly recommend this course for anyone, amateur or health care provider. I thoroughly enjoyed this course and was encouraged to review the skills I learned.

A job well done, Aaron and American Red Cross.

Just went through the full day of training on Adult CPR, AED and First Aid training... yup, you are looking at an American Red Cross Certified.

The location can be pretty hard to find, since it is really setting in the middle of no where (a.k.a. abandoned Naval Base since the 80s)

If you are here for training, remember to bring lunch. Because, there is absolutely nutting right next to this facility and there is no way you can just "walk" to any where that's near by~ so, come prepared.

The course really is NOT that boring~ It's long, but quit fulfilling.
The activity is enough to keep you busy throughout the hours. The intense repetition of the CPR chest pumping in TWO minutes can really get some work out done!!

From 9 to 5, from the basics of CPR procedure to the AED treatment. You really can't miss out an action~!

Certification comes with the completion of the course AND two exams.
Tough task~! Lot's of stress~! High Demand~! ............... lol

Its not like I can go serve in the ER now, but I do have that sense of confidence as I had the opportunity to grasp better understanding, preparation and awareness in case of any accident or emergency.

The instructor equipes with GREAT experience, and she was very patient, quit witt and helpful.

It was a great experience~ Now I Am Certified~! I am READY to SAVE Tha World~!!!!!