Taking CPR training online has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, these classes may save time, but they are incomplete on the other. Many provide certification up to a point, but they are unable to teach any type of hands-on experience, which is highly recommended by many agencies and may be required by some employers. They primarily allow people to learn about CPR, including how and why to perform it, without allowing them to actually perform it.
As a result, the best CPR training online should prepare students to participate in a hands-on training course and obtain certification. Several agencies may offer online classes that lead to practical training/testing, as well as testing centers where people can complete their studies. The Red Cross is one of them, and some classes are linked to organizations like the American Heart Association. Those in need of practical training should avoid courses that only provide academic/hands-off instruction without additional hands-on training to become certified. This training could be expensive, claim to provide certification, and still fail to prepare people for the testing they require.
Online classes offered by organizations such as the Red Cross, on the other hand, are a boon because they allow people to better organize their time or study over a period of time before doing practice work. They may be more convenient than attending in-person classes, and they are usually less expensive because there is no profit motive. As a result, it’s possible to say that the best way to choose an online CPR training course is to look for agencies that regularly train and certify in this area, or courses taught by representatives of those agencies. In the United States, the Red Cross or the American Heart Association offer online CPR training; they are the experts in this field.
People should be wary of any CPR training that offers certificates online, especially if the certificates are advertised as something that everyone requires. They could be completely useless, or they could certify basic knowledge but no experience or hands-on training. Many people who take a CPR course solely online are dismayed to discover that their certification is insufficient to meet the qualifications required or requested for specific types of work. Some online training from an agency includes an offline component, but if it doesn’t, these agencies and classes aren’t the best options, and people could get cheaper online training from the major nonprofit organizations.
Finally, people can benefit from the convenience of studying and reviewing CPR training online, as well as taking any type of written tests or quizzes online, which could save them several hours in class. Practical knowledge is still required, and most people would agree that in an emergency, they would prefer to have more than just a theoretical understanding of how to perform CPR. They’d also like to know how it feels and how it’s done because they’ve done it before. Such knowledge and experience are currently only available in an offline setting.