PENDLETON — Tri-County Technical College is now an authorized American Heart Association (AHA) Training Center.
After serving as an AHA training site for several years, following a rigorous evaluation, the College’s Corporate and Community Education earned authorization to be an AHA Training Center providing emergency life support classes in Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties.
Tri-County’s AHA Training Center is responsible for the administration and quality assurance of Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) courses. The College serves as liaison to AHA and implements AHA/ECC education in the community.
Certification through an American Heart Association authorized training center is universally accepted by all employers and considered the gold standard of certification, said Andrela Riley, director of health care programs for CCE.
“When customers call us for AHA training, one of the first questions they ask is if Tri-County is an AHA Training Center. It’s important. This prestigious recognition signifies we are a leader in the community for providing training for cardiovascular care,” said Riley. “Our job is to promote the highest level emergency cardiac care training in our community.”
AHA classes include CPR, First Aid, Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and Blood Borne Pathogens, as well as Basic Life Support CPR for Tri-County’s allied health students. In compliance with AHA guidelines and standards, all courses conform to the requirements set forth through the AHA instructor manual.
“We take pride in our programs and our instructors,” said Susan Blankenship, CCE administrative specialist and AHA Training Center faculty member. “We hold our instructors to strict standards, with an 8:1 student to teacher ratio.”
“We are always looking for ways to serve business, industry and the communities of Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties. We offer on-site training and are flexible in our training hours,” Blankenship added.
“Our role is to help achieve AHAs goals by increasing the number of instructors, providers and trained responders through delivering the highest quality AHA training. We will continue to create community, business and industrial partnerships that focus on communicating and rallying around the mission of the AHA,” said Riley.
Contact Susan Blankenship at 646- 1706 or sblanke1@tctc.edu for more information.