I Passed The BLS Examination, I'm CPR Certified!

It was a tiring day for me and I guess for my 5 other classmates as well after that bone-breaking CPR training, and not to mention that nerve-wracking BLS examination at the King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital last Wednesday. But it was all worth it. After more than a week of studying and training at our training center in TCI, the effort has paid off. All 6 of us, which is only the first batch from our class to take the examination, are now BLS (Basic Life Support) certified.

Before we had our examination, we were formally trained for about 4 hours on how to perform CPR on an adult, child and infant using dummies, and how to use the AED correctly. They also trained us on how to rescue an adult and an  infant victim when choking occurs. Using the dummies was the fun part although I never realized that giving 5 cycles of CPR  (which is 5 times 30 compressions with 2 breaths) is so tiring, what more in a real life situation?

After the training, we took the examination at the other room. It was a multiple choice test and we just have to encircle the letter that corresponds to the correct answer. I can't say it was easy, but it was not that hard also, probably the only thing that scared me that time was the thought that I might fail and I have to do it all over again. Failing the test was not an option, and thank God I made it! It took me about 20 minutes to answer all the questions.

They told us right away the result of the examination almost instantly after we submitted our test papers. I've got a 100% score! A few more minutes we received our certificates, but we have to give it back to the TCI management, they said that we will get it back on our graduation after 6 months. Passing BCLS was an amazing experience for me, as I remember it right, I haven't finished anything in my life prior to this and now I'm CPR certified. WOW!

I was also given a Saudi Heart Association BLS provider's ID which is good for 2 years and it says,  This certifies that the above named has successfully completed the national cognitive and skills performance examination in accordance with the standards and guidelines of the Saudi / American Heart Association for the basic Cardiac Life Support Program.

My sincerest thanks to our mentor Ms. Glenda Musico for helping us out get over our fears with her precious time shared with us by conducting online review and immersed us with the knowledge of CPR techniques that obviously came out in the exams. And  likewise, with Mr.Tom Lim who painstakingly challenged us with his encouraging words to hurdle any obstacles that may come our way, and also for his dilligence in teaching us so that we would be able to achieve  our goals.

A Tour With Mr. Tom Lim

After the hype was over, we went to the canteen for lunch, and while eating,  Mr. Tom Lim, our instructor/ founder of TCI, who works as a head nurse in the hospital, told us if we would like to see the place where he works, so we said yes. We went to the Cathertisation laboratory and Angiogram room. I was so amazed with the apparatus there, I don't even know what they are for. I saw a lot of monitors and a huge apparatus that resembles a machine from the movie 'Stargate'. No matter how Mr. Lim explained to us how things work in there and what those apparatuses are for, his explanations seemed to just enter to my ear and exit on the other. All in all, the experience was a total fun, Thank you Mr. Tom Lim!

My classmate's story about our BCLS examination, ¡SOY NEGRENSE! -  'Now We Are CPR Certified!'

Classmates At The Corniche

Yesterday, I and 6 of my classmates in TCI went to the Corniche just after our class around 5:00 PM. The sun was still up and it was terribly hot. 3 of them rode in my car and 2 others rode with Chris in his pick-up truck. We first went to a park where we took a lot of pictures with some of the locals there together with their ponies and their 4 wheeled motorcycles.

It was so hot and humid that afternoon and we can't even drink water out in the open, because it's Ramadan, we have to show respect to some of the Muslims there; they were fasting, and they can't either eat or drink until a specific time, so we have to discreetly drink water inside the car.

After the photo session at the mini park, we went to meet the Red Sea. We went to the different sections of the corniche and took photos of ourselves. One of our destinations was at the observation deck. While walking there, I thought that I was being one with the sun, It was almost 6:00 PM and it was hot and humid still, but like those sun worshipers, heat was not a deterrent to get those perfect photos, nope!. But seeing that sparkling, clear water of the Red Sea made me want to dive in it, but of course I can't, I think it's prohibited to swim or wade in the water on that part of the corniche, I don't know, we're in Saudi Arabia, isn't everything supposed to be prohibited here?

Anyways, we had fun and we obviously had our bonding moments there and not to mention those great photos and videos that will remind us of those memorable moments. What else could we ask for?

By The Way, I'm Back In School

Mr.Jeremy Thomas Lim BSN, RN, Founder/ Executive Director/ Instructor

I forgot to write a post about myself being in school again. So, yes I'm back in school, it's an intensive Caregiving program which is a 6-month program that caters for OFW's who are high school graduates and for those who didn't finish college like myself, although there are students that are professionals like engineer, pharmacists, etc. The program is on its 4th batch now of which I am lucky to be part of. The training center is only open every Fridays because most of the students and instructors are working during weekdays.The class starts from 8AM to 5 PM but can extend up to 7PM (although we haven't experienced that yet, thank God), so it's kind of hard for some students especially for those who still have work the night before. This week will be the start of  Ramadan, so for some students that will be an added problem because of the time constraint, most businesses during this time are all busy.

I enjoy going to school every Friday, because it breaks the routine that I used to have, and it's fun. It excites me so much that I can't even sleep the night before, just like what happened 2 weeks ago, I was awake 24 hours, I felt like a zombie sitting inside that classroom, and I don't want that to ever happen again, so I sleep very early every Thursday night, around 9 PM. Another thing that I really enjoy is that I get to exercise my brain again with those hard to remember, tongue twister medical words like gluteus maximus, vestibulocochlear, sternocleidomastoid etc.  And by the way, it sure is nice to try my hand in writing long lectures and assignments again just like when I was in high school.

Total Care International is now open for the 5th batch of students, so if you are from Jeddah and interested in the program, you can go to Total Care International website that you will see below, and there you will see phone numbers to contact and you can also fill up a form for you to reserve a slot.

The training center was located inside IPSJ (International Philippine School of Jeddah) on Gornatha street but just last Friday we transfered to a different location near Hail street. The name of the training center is Total Care International, and was founded by a  Filipino couple in 2008.

Website: Total Care International

Related: 'Im Back In School Again' at ¡SOY NEGRENSE! (My Classmate's Blog)