
Online learning has made tremendous advancements in the last decade. What used to be a series of digitized articles and essays has advanced to 360-degree video lectures and even virtual demonstrations. It’s now easier than ever to attain education in areas of personal and professional interest, and excuses for not doing so are quickly running out.

Many employers and accrediting will not accept a fully online CPR certification.
However, there are still cases in which taking a class over the internet doesn’t fully measure up to an in-person, physical experience. You’d be hard-pressed to truly learn karate over the web without an instructor helping you maintain form, and it would be silly to accept that you could learn how to dribble a basketball or style someone’s hair without a tactile component to practice with.
You’d be hard-pressed to truly learn karate over the web without an instructor helping you.
The same can be said about CPR. While there are online courses that can get you CPR certified, it is best learned (and taught) in person with live, hands-on demonstrations and teachers. When it comes to something as important as this potentially life-saving technique, the importance of a live coach cannot be understated. Proper form is key to performing CPR at its highest level of functionality both to provide assistance to someone in need and also to help avoid injury to the person it is being administered to.
You cannot stop an online video to ask questions.
Using dummies, visual aids, and hands-on instruction, an in-person class will result in a more confident level of expertise. You may unknowingly fall into a bad habit in your administration of CPR that an online video will not be able to correct for you. Feeling your weight against the resistance of a practice dummy or the placement of an infant dummy on your lap are real-world experiences that can’t be accurately expressed with online instruction.
Taking a class in person also has the added benefit of meeting professionals who are knowledgeable and at your disposal when it comes to questions and inquiries about CPR techniques and anecdotes relating to its effectiveness. You may have questions that an online course can’t address, or you may wish to explore other courses or certifications available at the facility.
While online certification will get the job done, you can’t beat the additional degree of education that is attained in a live setting. When it comes to CPR, a true matter of life and death, there are no downsides to making the choice to take advantage of the benefits of in-person instruction.
A personal note from the author, and Training Center Director
King County Wa. has an average *56% rate of survival for out-of-hospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest. This is attributed to many things. Importantly, early access to 911 and early High-Performance CPR are huge factors in increasing the survivor rate. This can only truly be passed on with live training with an instructor. More importantly, CPR and First Aid is best taught by instructors with actual experience using these high-level emergency medical skills.
In addition, to live training, DSC offers convenient blended training and Remote skills verification training. The classwork is done online and a skills check is done by the instructor either in a live visit or skills via live video. The DSC instructor is very willing to give educational feedback.
Enjoy your training!
Brian
*chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=https%3A%2F%2Fkingcounty.gov%2Fdepts%2Fhealth%2Femergency-medical-services%2F~%2Fmedia%2Fdepts%2Fhealth%2Femergency-medical-services%2Fdocuments%2Freports%2F2019-Annual-Report.ashx&clen=7963015&chunk=true&pdffilename=2019-Annual-Report.pdf
CPR, AED, First Aid