Getting Students to Engage During CPR Training

Let’s be honest,  high school students are more concerned with social media and the Kardashians than they are with CPR and First Aid Training.

Now more than ever we are seeing a larger presence of CPR instructors in high schools. This is primarily due to new bills passing that require high school students to have some type of CPR training prior to graduation.

So how are you going to make it through a class of high schoolers? Engage, Engage, Engage! I’ve listed a few suggestions on how to get your students excited about CPR. 

1. Relatable Scenarios

   High schoolers need to hear about scenarios that surround their day to day activities. Make them relatable and entertaining. Give them a scenario where they might be at a party and someone becomes unconscious but there aren’t any adults around. Perhaps, they are swimming at the party and one of their friends drown. These are examples of how you can make a scenario connection with your students. Encourage them to be the hero in those situations. 

2. Group Participation

   Getting high schoolers to participate or volunteer on a topic they don’t know a lot about might be difficult. They don’t want to sound silly if front of their friends. I’ve learned there are other ways to get students to participate besides calling on them for an answer. You know that party they are at with their friends (see No. 1)…ask them questions about the party? What are they celebrating? Whose house are they at? Is there going to be a clown or a traveling petting zoo? Is there going to be a Journey cover band? These are guaranteed suggestions that will give them a good laugh and get them involved in the training session.

3. Freebies or Swag 

   Kids love free stuff! Reward them for their amazing compression rate. You’ll see a train reaction right in front of your eyes. Soon everyone will have an amazing compression rate! Don’t look at it as a bribe for participation but more of an incentive or award. This was an idea I had a few years ago and that’s when I started designing a handful of our inexpensive novelty gifts for instructors to handout.

I’ll be honest…these few suggestions don’t just work with high schoolers but with adults of all ages. Making their CPR training memorable. Be that awesome instructor that comes in with a fun-loving attitude, a creative outlook, and CPR Training Trophies. You’ll be talked about days after and recommend for future training’s.

At least give it a try. Chances are you’ll enjoy the class a lot more too.