Since 1984, Zee Medical's distributors have been using Medic First Aid to train their customers' companies. Regional Training Manager Charles Armstrong recently took a few minutes to tell us about Zee's experience with Medic First Aid. Charlie estimates that more than 250,000 people have been trained by the Zee staff.

As a Master Trainer, Charlie says that the biggest challenge is managing a large program and making sure that all the Instructors and Trainers are keeping up the high level of training Zee requires. This includes providing them with logistical and training support and making sure all their questions get answered.

Charlie says the environment can often be the biggest challenge for the Zee instructor. He notes that training on an oil rig requires a helicopter ride out to the rig with all the training equipment. "Dirty, cramped, uncarpeted training sites in the field are common. Lugging our own monitors, VCRs, and blankets for the cement floors are challenges we gladly face daily!" He notes, "Lest you think we are really heroic, we also train in offices, plush carpeted boardrooms, and beautiful hotels in exotic places such as the Bahamas, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Canada!"

Zee works in a lot of high-risk industries such as construction, oil rigging, and manufacturing. The Instructors sometimes have the chance to put their skills to use even during a training session. Charlie tells of an AED class during which the owner of the company suffered Sudden Cardiac Arrest. "The employees going through the training, as well as our trainer, were able to 'practice' what they learned on the spot! The patient had a shockable rhythm, the AED shocked him, and on the second shock he had a regular heart beat. The paramedics arrived and said had it not been for the AED use by trained persons, he would most probably not have made it."

The training for Zee staff can strike close to home. An employee trained by Charlie told him that only a few days after her training, one evening at home, her husband had a heart attack and passed out. Remembering what she had just learned, in spite of her stress and fear, she called 911 and immediately began CPR on her husband. She revived him and when the paramedics arrived, they took over. Her husband survived the heart attack thanks to his wife's Medic First Aid training and quick action.

It's the "simplicity" of the program and the methodology that is the most important thing to Charlie about Medic First Aid training. He has been trained in other nationally recognized programs and "thus I have points of comparison. The Medic Program's 'Watch the video, see the Instructor do it, and do it yourself', in a low stress, NO TEST environment is simple, yet gets the job done!"

The benefits of using Medic First Aid is Zee knows it is offering "our customers an approved, state-of-the-art program that works!"