New Programs and Promotional Opportunities

Read on to learn what's new for your TC from our Production and Marketing teams.

New Epinephrine Auto-Injector Program from MEDIC First Aid

MEDIC First Aid’s Use and Administration of Epinephrine Auto-Injectors teaches students about causes of severe allergic reactions, how to recognize and treat anaphylaxis, the use of auto-injectors, legal considerations for administering epinephrine and how to prepare for an anaphylactic emergency.* The program is ideal for childcare providers, school system employees and camp counselors and administrators. This program is also appropriate for training the general public (Good Samaritans).

*Regulations on the administration of epinephrine vary greatly from state to state, and can vary depending on the industry or market segment. Check the HSI regulatory tool in your TC portal for the approved uses of this program in your area.

Learn more about the program here.

Coming Soon: ASHI Wilderness First Aid

We’re excited to announce the updated ASHI Wilderness First Aid program. This 16-hour program is designed for individuals who are not healthcare providers or professional rescuers but desire or are required to be certified in wilderness first aid knowledge and skills. The program:

• Is designed to meet or exceed the Boy Scouts of America Wilderness First Aid Curriculum and Doctrine Guidelines, 2017 Edition.
• Features a greater focus on hands-on skills and scenario practices, as well as a robust PowerPoint presentation.
• Will include a Skills Demonstration DVD with step-by-step demonstration of skills in a studio setting. (Please note this component is currently being finalized. It will be shipped at a later date to TCs that purchase Program Package.)

The program is now available for pre-ordering. We anticipate beginning to ship orders from our warehouse by April 16.

• PKGWFA-18 Wilderness First Aid Program Package Special introductory price of $75 (Reg. $95)
• BKWFA-18N Wilderness First Aid Student Book    $18.95
• INSTWFA-18 Wilderness First Aid Instructor Guide  $75
• ECWFA-18 Wilderness First Aid Print Certification Card (sheet of 5) $29.05
• DCWFA-18 Wilderness First Aid Digital Certification Card  $5.81

Learn more about the program here.

With the release of the updated program, we will discontinue the G2010 ASHI Wilderness First Aid program.  TCs and instructors can continue to teach and issue cards from their inventory stock for the G2010 ASHI WFA program until July 31, 2018.

To pre-order your new Wilderness First Aid program, log in to your TC portal or call us at 800-447-3177. 

 Referral Program for Training Centers

If you want an easier way to manage blended learning options or if you want to extend the type of training you offer students and earn Bot Bucks at the same time, take a look at our updated Referral Program*.

The Referral Program allows you to refer clients to HSI’s online training solutions for emergency care, EHS compliance and first responder continuing education. Simply by placing a unique URL on your website or in an email, you’ll offer a valuable service to your customers by providing them with a single source for their training needs. All while earning Bot Bucks loyalty program credits you can use for ASHI and MEDIC First Aid student materials.

HSI products for your customers include:

• HSI Online emergency care training courses
• Summit Connect online interactive courses (eLearning)
• OSHA 10- and 30-Hour for General Industry & Construction courses
• Online HAZWOPER courses
• 24-7 EMS and Fire continuing education courses (coming soon)

* For complete details, see the terms and conditions of the program in the “Referral Program” section in your TC Manager portal. HSI for-profit Training Centers in good standing are eligible to participate in the Referral Program. Bot Bucks earned will be accrued monthly and are eligible for use during the designated Bot Bucks Redemption period(s).

Log in to your TC Manger portal to learn more.

Using the Approval Database in OTIS

Have you explored the approval database in OTIS? The approval database is a powerful resource that helps simplify the complex environment of approval, acceptance and accreditation by providing detailed information on approval of ASHI and MEDIC First Aid training programs by occupation/industry and regulating body. 

The Approval Database also includes exclusive access to our state and federal legislative and regulatory tracking efforts; what we call “Approval Advocacy.” There you have state-by-state access to relevant drafts of proposed laws (bills) and regulations (rules) that may affect government approval or acceptance of our emergency care and safety training programs. Details about the Approval Advocacy section will be covered in the next newsletter. 

The Approval Database is easy to use and an excellent way to target your Training Center offerings by marketing them to the right audiences. When you log in to OTIS, click on Administration on the left side bar, and then select Approval. The Approval Database will automatically pull up approval information by occupation/industry in your state. You’ll see the ASHI and MEDIC First Aid training programs approved by occupation/industry, a comments area with more information and a documents column with links to approval letters or additional requirements. The Approval Database is continually updated with new approval information as new or revised regulations take effect.

How you can use the Approval Database to market your TC

Your customers rely on you as their go-to expert for emergency care training, and the Approval Database is a great resource to help answer their questions. Use it to:

• Ensure a class will meet their requirements. For example, a “child care provider” may or may not require the same training as a “foster care provider.” You can check the Approval Database to review our notes and documents to ensure the ASHI or MEDIC First Aid training program you intend to teach is approved for the specific occupation/industry and is the right one for your customer. You’ll also find a link to the regulation itself.
• Check for any limitations for training. Will the certification be accepted if the class was taken in a blended learning format? Does the course need to be taught by a nurse or EMT? Does the regulator require specific topics be added or subtracted from the lesson plan? Must certain paperwork be completed and submitted by the instructor or student?
• Support the acceptance of an ASHI or MEDIC First Aid program to satisfy a requirement. If customers are unsure that our programs are accepted, or believe that only certain brand-name programs will meet their compliance obligations, you can quickly research the regulation and provide answers to their questions. If we have an acceptance letter on file from the regulating body, you can download it and share it with your customer.
• Research new markets in your state. Search within the database by occupation or by the programs you own to see who needs training. Build yourself an approval binder and then reach out to those potential customers with marketing messages on why your ASHI or MEDIC First Aid training program offering should be the preferred choice to meet their occupational emergency care training requirements.

If you can’t find exactly what you need within the Approval Database, don’t hesitate to contact Kristal Langner, HSI’s Regulatory Manager at 800-447-3177, ext. 325. She can help answer questions, discuss and research an approval issue, or pursue approval of an ASHI or MEDIC First Aid training program where required or desired. Also, we are always interested in any approvals that you may have obtained or are aware of that are not currently in the Approval Database. Our mission is making the workplace and community safer. One crucial way to do that is to maintain a robust and up-to-date approval database to demonstrate the extensive acceptance of our training programs for compliance.

We’re one of the few training providers to offer this type of regulatory research and compliance support, so be sure to take advantage of this unique ASHI and MEDIC First Aid benefit.

For even more support, log in to your TC Portal to access a free webinar, Regulatory 101, Navigating Occupational and Industry Licensure with Kristal Langner, HSI’s Regulatory Manager. 

Using ASHI and MEDIC First Aid Programs to Advertise Your Training Center

Did you know that HSI creates a specification sheet and a customizable flyer for our ASHI and MEDIC First Aid programs? These PDF documents are available to you through your TC portal. To access them in OTIS:

• From your TC Portal Dashboard, go to the left sidebar and select “Documents”.
• On the right sidebar, under “General Documents”, select “Marketing Tools”.
• A pop up box will appear. Scroll through to see updated logos, program spec sheets and form field flyers.
• Click on the document you want, and it will appear in a new window.

The specification sheet provides your instructors with an overview of the program contents and the requirements for equipment and materials for offering a class. The form-field flyer is an editable PDF that features a brief, customer-facing description of the program, including some marketing language about program benefits, and a place for you to add your TC name and contact information. These flyers are ideal for displaying on your table at a trade event or handing out to potential customers inquiring about your offerings.

So the next time a customer has questions about whether one of your classes is right for them, hand them one of our professionally created, customized flyer to help win them over.

Important Notice Regarding Logos: In that same area of OTIS, you’ll also find updated ASHI and MEDIC First Aid logos and usage guidelines. Be sure to review the guidelines and use the new logos on your website and other materials.

Tips from Tech Support

Getting the most from your Training Center portal 

Recovering Username and Password

Locked out of the TC Portal in your OTIS account or unsure what your Username is?  It's easy to recover your name or password online using your primary email account!

When you go to the login page for your OTIS Administrator or Instructor portal, you'll find options to "Recover Username" or "Recover Password" directly under the Username and Password boxes. Just enter your email address or the username (if known), and you’ll be sent an email with a temporary code to unlock the account immediately.

Once you get the username or temporary code, you can enter it and, if resetting the password, specify a new password. You will be required to enter the new password twice. Then click "Reset Password" to record the new password and unlock the account.

To finish, click the "Login" button and log in with the new password you created.

Please note: Using these recovery tools to quickly re-access your Username or Password requires that the email address we have on file matches the current email you are using. If you have changed your email since your OTIS account was originally set up, please contact our Client Services department at 800-447-3177 to put in a change request.

How to Get Important System Notifications by Email

The dashboard in your TC Manager portal contains important messages from our administrative system, including notifications regarding instructor status. If you would prefer to receive an email about notifications such as instructor expiration, scheduled system maintenance and other information in addition to the dashboard messaging, you can activate an email option:

• Log into Training Center Manager at https://otis.hsi.com/login
• Go to Administration on the left-side navigation options
• Select Communication
• Select Email Admin from the drop-down menu
• Activate Daily System Notices

You will now receive an email whenever a new notice is posted in the portal.

Training Center Profiles

Meet Your Peers

Discover what your peers are thinking about the emergency care industry, the challenges their TCs face and the solutions they’ve found in their quest to make their workplaces and communities safer.

CPR Training Solutions

Brand: ASHI and MEDIC First Aid

Director: Kira Miller

City, State: San Jose, California

Website: http://www.cprtrainingsolutions.com

Type of Training Center: External (Training for individuals or organizations for a fee)

Business Structure: For-profit organization

How long have you been in business?
26 years, offering ASHI and MEDIC First Aid for more than 10 years

What is the biggest challenge for you and your business?
Finding new customers

How do you market your business? (ranked in order of importance)

1. Website
2. Online advertising
3. Speaking as an emergency care expert at public events

Of your business or training investments that cost less than $500, what has given you the best return?

• YELP has been wonderful for my business.
• Networking is always great; I have founded three different groups over the course of my career.
• My degree and a minor in Business has always helped me because I am able to do my own bookkeeping. But that was a lot more than $500, so I digress....
• Having lived in the San Jose area my whole life, I think word of mouth and referrals from friends continues to be my best advertising.
• We all sit bored in traffic: advertise to that captive audience! I had a license plate frame that said "Learn CPR" with my phone number, and I got one of my best customers when their bus driver saw my rear window sticker with my website.

What strategies or investments have proven to be a waste of time and money?

Based on what you know now, what advice would you have given yourself when you were starting out?

I would have gone with ASHI sooner instead of staying with another emergency care training organization!!

What are some of the most common misconceptions or mistakes you have seen/heard in your career?

• Instructors who tell students they might do something wrong while performing CPR, or say things like, “Breaking ribs while doing CPR is really bad.”
• Students worry they won't remember what to do in an emergency. Based on the rescue stories I have heard, and on my own experience, I tell them, “You will remember, and then lose your cool after the event. And that is completely normal.”

Where do you see your Training Center and the emergency care training industry in the next 5-10 years?

Hopefully a drone will drop my equipment off at the site where I am teaching. Well, at least it can deliver an AED....

I believe that my customers appreciate being able to call me every two months or two years or whatever length of time passes, and they know they will get good, consistent training and service. I don't think that will change. I also haven't raised my prices in over 15 years; I put the onus on me to make up the difference in volume instead of on my customers.

I already do a large amount of blended learning and I think that will continue to grow in the industry, but some companies still want the regular classroom experience. I utilize digital books and feel that is the best way to be "green," and students appreciate saving trees!

Where do you go to stay current with the latest industry information and knowledge?

ASHI, American Heart Association, fellow instructors network

Can you share a favorite Good Samaritan story about your students?

There are so many over the last 26 years! My friend was at a high school lacrosse game, and had to run around and find an AED for a 52-year-old mom who went into SCA in the stands. She found it and brought it to the scene, and today someone has their mom alive and well thanks to that intervention. My friend has an implanted defibrillator, so she is very aware of the importance of rapid response with an AED.

Baldwin Area Medical Center

Brand: ASHI

Director: Angela Branum 

City, State: Baldwin, WI

Type of Training Center: Internal (Training for employees/members at no charge)

Business Structure: Non-profit corporation

How long have you been an ASHI/MEDIC First Aid TC? 3-5 years

Based on what you know now, what advice would you have given yourself when you were starting out?

Focus on creating a solid foundation of organization for training documentation first to reduce headaches later.

Where do you see the emergency care training industry in the next 5-10 years?

I see us moving to more computer-aided skills testing and increasing our economic efficiency by adding in-house ACLS trainers.

Of the training investments that cost less than $500, what has given you/your company the best return?

An Association for Talent Development (ATD) Professional Membership, in both the national and local chapters.

Where do you go to stay current with the latest industry information and knowledge?

HSI, FEMA, ATD website, AHA

What strategies or investments have proven to be a waste of time and money?

Completing the skills portion of the blended learning on an as-needed basis is so inefficient, since I have to get the equipment out of storage, reserve a room and set up the mannequins. I now set up three days each quarter in advance to test out on skills and make very few exceptions.

What are some of the most common misconceptions or mistakes you have seen/heard in your career?

There have been many students that get so nervous about doing something wrong that they don't do anything!

Is emergency care or other workplace safety training your primary job function at your organization?

No.

What is the biggest training challenge at your company?

Budget, scheduling

What is the biggest challenge for you and your business?

Recognition of ASHI and MEDIC First Aid training programs as equivalent to AHA. We follow the same guidelines, but if our staff work at other facilities, they do not accept ASHI, and are forced to get their certification elsewhere, or get a duplicate certification.

What has your company done to make safety part of the day-to-day culture?

Regular tips and hints in the weekly newsletter, regular inclusion of frontline staff to report and investigate issues.

Please share a success story about how you increased corporate leadership buy-in and support for your emergency care training efforts.

We created a proposal to switch from AHA to ASHI CPR training, with a fully-loaded ROI with costs and benefits. We even included the page from the TCAM that described the foundations of ASHI being the same as AHA. It was approved and we started saving quite a bit of money, while increasing the quality of our in-house training.

What is the most difficult part of managing an internal training center?

Time!

We want to hear from you!

Share your wisdom with your TC peers by completing one of our 15-minute profile surveys.

If your TC provides training for individuals or organizations for a fee, click the "External TC" button. For those TCs that offer training for employees/members at no charge, choose "Internal TC."

Upcoming Tradeshows

Visit us in person at these upcoming tradeshows:

FDIC International 2018
April 26-28, 2018
Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium
Indianapolis, IN
Booth #9532

Northwest Fire & Rescue Expo
May 17-18, 2018
Portland Expo Center
Portland, OR

ASSE Safety 2018
June 3 -5, 2018
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
San Antonio, TX
Booth# 639

Please stop by the booth with your questions about ASHI, MEDIC First Aid or any of our family of brands.

We look forward to seeing you.

Next Bot Bucks Redemption Period: May 21-June 1, 2018

For those unfamiliar with the Bot Bucks program, this loyalty program allows ASHI and MEDIC First Aid TCs the opportunity to earn “Bot Bucks” when you complete certain actions such as entering a class roster in OTIS or setting up a PayPal account on the TC’s website. During a redemption period, you can use your accrued bucks to purchase ASHI and MEDIC First Aid-produced student materials and programs.

For a complete list of qualifying actions, visit the Terms and Conditions page at https://www.hsi.com/bot.

Bot Bucks is a use-it-or-lose-it promotion, with bucks remaining in your TC account only until the end of a redemption period; they revert to zero if not used. Once the redemption period is over, the opportu­nity to accrue begins again.

Our next scheduled redemption period will be May 21 – June 1, 2018. Watch your inbox for a pre-event reminder announcement, and then a notification email the day the redemption period begins, which will include the number of Bot Bucks you currently have in your account. You can also check your Bot Bucks accrual at any time through your TC Manager portal.

New 24-7 EMS Program on Firefighters and Cancer

Does your Training Center have customers who are first responders? HSI companies 24-7 EMS and 24-7 Fire offer professionally produced, award-winning videos featuring nationally noted EMS and fire service subject matter experts. We’ve recently added an important new course to the 24-7 EMS continuing education library.

Research continues to confirm that the rate of some cancers among firefighters is greater than that of the general population. The new 24-EMS program, Emergency Responders, Fire and Cancer, is intended to raise awareness among fire service personnel about the elevated risk of cancer associated with working as an emergency responder to a fire-related emergency.

The course provides personal accounts of people affected by cancer, an overview of the relationship between firefighting and cancer, and an introduction to basic intervention strategies for line personnel to help reduce exposure to carcinogens and other harmful materials. 

A portion of the proceeds from this program is donated to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network (FCSN).

Coming soon, you will also be able to offer 24-7 courses to your customers through our referral program. See the “What’s New” article in this issue of the newsletter for more details.