Safety Programs Safety Programs
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Our Online Safety Programs

The ECSI / Safety Programs Distance Learning (Blended Learning) Pathway:
One of the challenges we have identified when it comes to conducting First Aid and/or CPR training is scheduling. Many students have stated that finding a course at a reasonable price and at a convenient time and place is almost impossible.
 
To address this, our new Distance Learning option allows students to study the basic content of several Emergency Care courses on-line in the comfort of their home, school or office at their own pace, at any time 24/7/365. The program provides a state of the art, interactive study online program that is self-paced. The only requirement is that the student have a computer with Internet access.
 
Once the student has completed the on-line (knowledge) portion of the course, the student must attend a Skill Evaluation that is provided by a local ECSI Instructor in order for the student to get a course completion card for the course. A link to the listing of ECSI Skills Instructors is http://www.ecsinstitute.org/students/search.cfm  (NOTE: Initial Response, Inc. is an authorized Skills Evaluation Center serving the Southeastern/Hampton Roads/Peninsula parts of Virginia)
 
Please keep in mind that the prices for the online training are for the ONLINE PORTION ONLY!  You must make a separate arrangement with a local ECSI Instructor for a skills evaluation.
 
A note about other Online Training Companies: There are many online companies that offer online ONLY training (no hands-on skills) and provide you with "their" course completion card (some that look strikingly similar to some nationally recognized cards). These companies and their cards are NOT nationally accepted. In fact, they do not meet the minimum requirements for course completion (classroom and hands-on training). Completion of these courses do not meet the requirements set forth by OSHA, MSHA, FAA, DOT, EMS and other national and state agencies.
 
The Initial Response, Inc. / ECSI Online training program partnership is a fully recognized program and will result in the same course completion card as if you attended a traditional classroom training course. All ECSI courses meets or exceeds all the standards that are set by the various national and international agencies.
 
All ECSI courses and training materials are reviewed and endorsed by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations. A description of their background can be found at http://www.ecsinstitute.org/ecsi_partners.cfm
 
How does it all work?
 
Good question!  The process works like this:
  1. The student purchases a special access code using a credit card from our online store.  Once the credit card transaction is complete, a student access code is sent to the student via e-mail and the student can start the training immediately.
     
  2. The student then goes to the ECSI online training site. When the student enters the code, the student must register and he/she is immediately entered into a national database that will do many things. The student will be asked various items of information, Name, Mailing Address, email address, etc.  (NOTE: If the student is part of an organization that Initial Response, Inc. has an agreement/contract with, then their information is captured by organization and member number, that way the client organization can track the training and certification status of their various members.  If your organization would like to utilize this service, contact us TOLL FREE at 1-877-377-4782).
     
  3. The student starts the online training, which is interactive with written words that the student can read and a narrator (if they have speakers or headphones on their computer). There is no rush to do this and the student can take a fair amount of time to complete the online portion of the training (several weeks or months)
     
  4. The entire program is self-paced and the student can do as much or as little as they want at any one time.
     
  5. The students can do it at any time, in the comfort of their own home, school or office/work, 24/7/365.
     
  6. The student can review and replay previous online portions as many times as they want if they feel they did not fully understand it.
     
  7. The student will have access to all the online study resources that ECSI provides including FirstAidNet and that website is: http://www.ecsinstitute.org/FirstAidNet
     
  8. If the student already has a good understanding of the material, then the student will progress faster, but an average student will take 2-3 hours to complete the online portion.
     
  9. Once the student completes the online portion, then he/she MUST have a skill evaluation by a local ECSI Instructor in order to receive their course completion card, which takes about 1-2 hours (depending on the student and/or the number of students being trained/tested).  To search for your closest ECSI Skills Evaluator go to the ECSI webpage at: http://www.ecsinstitute.org/students/search.cfm
     
  10. Once the student successfully completes the skills evaluation he/she is then issued a nationally and internationally recognized course completion card which is valid for 1 to 3 years (depending on which course they take).
The national database (operated by ECSI) will track the student’s progress every step of the way and will automatically notify the student via email when their card is about to expire so that they can renew it. The renewal process is the same as the basic process, which is nice for instructors. (It’s the same for everyone. No special basic classes versus recert/refresher classes).
 
For instructors, the skill evaluations take a short amount of time (1-2 hours) although much of the equipment will be the same as in a traditional course. You will still need CPR manikins, splints, bandages, etc.  Since this is in essence a self-paced process and there is little rush, skills instructors can actually set aside just a few hours during the month for skills evaluations and the students come to them for evaluation. Since it only takes 1-2 hours, this can be scheduled on regular dates or just a short time on the weekend. 
 
There are ECSI instructors located across the country and more are coming aboard everyday and students can expect to pay a nominal fee to the skills evaluator for his/her time and materials
($30-$45).  The student is responsible for arranging (and paying for) their own local skills evaluation.
 
If you have any questions on how this all works, call us TOLL FREE at 877-377-4782.