Program and Fee Changes
October 11th, 2011 by Allen James
January 1, 2011, the American Red Cross (ARC) began to implement significant changes in their training standards, customer fees, authorized provider fees, and regional organization structure. They have taken gradual steps over many months to put these changes in place. National ARC has begun the process to nationalize the local Chapters into a more businesslike nationwide structure. Management is now on a regional basis with standard class pricing across the country. Your local Chapter now is a local office of the national ARC, not an independent organization. How will these changes impact you? Let’s take a look:
The first big change is the certification authorization period for CPR/First Aid training. As of January 1, 2011, it is two years instead of one year and three years respectively. Some believe this is good in order to compete with other training organizations. However, it must be noted that American Heart Association’s own research has shown that after one year, fewer than 40% can pass the skills test. This is why Allen L. James CPR Training Services has offered companies a two hour, non certificate (cert) review session that can bring their trained staff up to speed for a response comfort level. This session can also be used to document “Safety Training” which can support OSHA requirements.
The financial impact of the two year certificate to the student is an increase in class fees for training via ARC directly. For example, the First Aid class changing from a three year cert to a two year with fee increases from $45 to $70 per person respectively. Another example is CPR/AED/First Aid for Adult, Child, and Infant increasing from $70 to $110 per person for a two year cert. Finally, the fee for the CPR/AED training for the professional rescuer has increased from $80 to $110 for the same previous two year cert. These new price fees are nationally set without consideration of local economics.
Since Allen L. James CPR Training Services is an Authorized Provider, we must also pay a higher fee to ARC per student certificate. Some of our fees have increased by 32% and others by 52%. The result of these increases is a small fee increase for our classes as of October 1, 2011. The good news is that we are still lower than ARC direct training anywhere in the United States.
What is most important is the quality of training and standards that will give the student the best chance to respond to an emergency. Considering these economic times, cost is important as well. It has been our mission to give quality training at reasonable prices to serve the emergency response needs of corporations, groups, and individuals. To that end, we are here to serve you.
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