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.
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.
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.
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!
