Thread: Bellydance Instructors - First Aid / CPR Certification

So as a Bellydance teacher, do you have First Aid certification? I would think it's the responsible thing to do. But if not, what is the reason for not needing one? I want to teach but am wanting to do it safely. I have read the article by Michelle Joyce: Michelle Joyce writes for the Gilded Serpent

But I've visited Pro bellydancer's site and most of them do not mention being CPR certified or First Aid.

Depends on where you teach, but in my circumstance it's essential.

Many of my students are in the age group that's considered high risk, and many of them are taking their first exercise class after years of being sedentary.

At my studio, other dance studios I've rented, and parks departments where I've taught I'm the only representative of the company present in the evenings. At the health club, I'm generally the only staff member on the level where I teach.

I consider it my responsibility to:
- Know CPR
- Know basic first aid
- Have a fully charged cel phone on hand if there's no working phone
- Know how to use an AED (defibrillator) if there's one present
- Provide a first aid kit OR know where one's located

So far everything's been fine... but it doesn't take an incident a week or even one per decade to make all the training worthwhile. Just one incident, and that could happen tomorrow!

If you teach for a health club, they'll usually provide your certification training at no charge. Group fitness instructor certification requires it before you can test. In the US you can call the American Heart Association or the Red Cross for low-cost group classes. I don't know about Canada, but I imagine Red Cross is universal?

I don't advertise it on my web page/literature, but I consider it an essential. I also require everyone at my retail store to be certified as well.

I am a card-carying CPR and first aid trained belly dancer. I have not thought to put it on my website though.
I was required to have the certification for two of the places (gyms) I teach, but think as the "authority figure" in the class, instructors should be certified and ready to take charge if something happens.

The park & rec departments I have worked for have all required their fitness instructors to have current CPR/First Aid certification. One allows me to attend the certification classes for free every year, even though I'm a contractor and not an employee.

I agree with all of Lauren's list, although I personally have never been trained on how to use a defibrillator, nor is there one on the premises of any of my teaching locations.

yep! every year I get re-certified or test out if I remember everything. It is required by the YMCA where I work. I am also certified in canine and feline cpr.

I got certified a few years ago just 'cause I had kids, but my current belly dance "employers" never mentioned it. Is that something that needs to be updated on an annual basis?

Yep, certified every year.
Dont depend on others to know what to do.
Learn it yourself

I *think* the red cross recertifies you annually, AHA is every 2 years. Or vice versa. Can't remember which is which right now.

CPR Certified & I carry a microshield w/ rubber gloves on my keychain.
Keys are always close during class.

and of course...what Lauren said!

Originally Posted by Egyptdancer

CPR Certified & I carry a microshield w/ rubber gloves on my keychain.
Keys are always close during class.

and of course...what Lauren said!

yes! these are so inexpensive & a must have emergency tool! go get one of these mini key-chain kits! I also have a *nice* non-rebreather in my glove box, but that's not practical to take inside any given location... the keychain I always have.

red cross CPR (defibrillator included) is every year, first aid every other year, but you can also test out if you are tight on time and your certificate hasn't lapsed.

I am cpr and aed certified but I don't advertise it on my web site.

I'm cpr certified. I had to because I teach out of a gym. Had basic first aid training when I was younger. So far I haven't had to use any of it on anybody else, and I hope I never will.

I have St Johns First response..isn't it essential for PLI?

I, like Shems, taught at a gym for a time and I had to be CPR certified in order to teach.

I have never had to use CPR or first aid (thanks goodness) yet,
BUT when I was working in a school a few years back,
I saw one student slapping another on the back during lunch,
trying to help them swallow) ..c::

This is NOT the way to help!
So I asked the 3rd grade teacher if I could teach the Heimlich Maneuver to the students.

I taught them how to safely perform it on others, themselves,
larger or pregnant people, & wheelchair bound people.

Sure enough, the very next year, one of those students started choking
in the lunchroom. They were able to give the universal sign of choking &
jump into a lap of a fellow classmate who I had taught the previous year.
Thankfully that student remembered everything and saved a life!
My little Heimlich Hero was acknowledged by the local
fire department & radio stations!!

For those with CPR certification, have you all done this through Red Cross? There are other programs out there, but I'm wondering if they are considered as legit as Red Cross or not.

I've done both Red Cross and American Heart Association. They seemed comparable to me.

Yes you should be! EVERYONE should really not just teachers.
Be sure to ask where the AED is in every venue that you teach at as well!

Thanks for the feedback!

I've always been interested in CPR and First Aid...It think it's a skill that all humans should know...they should make it a requirement in school.

I am certified through the AHA because of my day job. When I took my last refresher course they told us that the breaths were no longer considered absolutely necessary and the compressions would be sufficient.

We did CPR training junior or senior year of high school. (My school system had an amazing Physical Education program.)

Originally Posted by Fushia

I've always been interested in CPR and First Aid...It think it's a skill that all humans should know...they should make it a requirement in school.

Originally Posted by stardancer

I am certified through the AHA because of my day job. When I took my last refresher course they told us that the breaths were no longer considered absolutely necessary and the compressions would be sufficient.

yep- same thing last time I did red cross (basically to get the heart compressions going sooner)

I think AHA and Red Cross are comparable, & either were accepted when I did my personal trainer certificate.

Originally Posted by stardancer

I am certified through the AHA because of my day job. When I took my last refresher course they told us that the breaths were no longer considered absolutely necessary and the compressions would be sufficient.

That's what we learned too. The park districts require me to be certified, and they usually pay all employees a flat rate for their time to take the course.

IMO----What always worries me is that often the teachers are pretty young, and have never actually used any of it "for real". I hope none of us actually ever has to use what we're learning, but I wonder if it's right to be certifying hundreds of people when you have no real life experience in it? That wouldn't fly in many other jobs. I would prefer it to be taught by paramedics, firemen, policemen, nurses, doctors---people who really know how to do it.
If you ask people who've actually had to perform CPR, they will tell you real life is not like what you do in the class.

You're right, Anisah!

I took first aid as a full semester course in college, and our instructor was a former paramedic (EMT). His stories about his experiences sure lent a sense of reality to the course, and he was able to tell us about areas where real life veered away from the text. It was a great class. We even had whole classes where we acted out various disasters and our classmates (who weren't clued in to exactly what disaster would be happening) had to respond appropriately and patch us up. Wheeee!

I'm pretty sure that some of the instructors I've had through AHA and/or Red Cross were off-duty EMT volunteers.

OTOH, at the health club, our manager trained everyone.

So I guess it varies a lot.