ATSU and regional BLS instructors provide U.S. Army Reservists with free training
Posted: July 9, 2017
Fourteen U.S. Army Reservists received free Basic Life Support (BLS) instruction and completed certification July 8 as a result of the collaboration between A.T. Still University’s (ATSU) American Heart Association Training Center and multiple regional BLS instructors.
“Reservists are put in unknown situations when they arrive on a disaster or combat scene, and all need to be equipped with lifesaving skills, specifically BLS, until more advanced caregivers arrive,” said Lisa Archer, RN, BSN, director, ATSU’s American Heart Association Training Center. “We are investing in them, so they can be at their best when serving the needs of victims in an emergency situation.”
Archer, who facilitates BLS instruction for ATSU students, and Donna Moffett, education coordinator at Northeast Regional Medical Center, who has taught BLS to reservists for many years, collaborated to assemble a team of volunteer instructors to teach the course and utilize the vast instructional resources available within ATSU’s Drabing Human Patient Simulation Center. Moffett served as lead instructor for the course, and a team of eight regional CPR instructors donated their time to teach the reservists. The instructors included representatives from Unionville, Northeast Regional Medical Center, Air Evac, Scotland County Hospital, and Truman State University.
“I was touched by the instructors’ heart and passion for teaching BLS to the Reservists,” said Archer. “Within an hour of contacting area instructors, I had secured all instructors for the event – each of them volunteering their time to teach this amazing group of men and women who serve our country through the Army Reserve.”
ATSU’s American Heart Association Training Center works with 128 instructors from all over northeast Missouri. Last year, those instructors provided 414 classes, which resulted in training for 2,753 people.