ARCGLA’s Health and Safety Department introduces a new 2 year CPR/AED certification. The American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles recommends the new 2 year CPR/AED certification for individuals in healthcare, professional rescuers other than lifeguards due to the predominantly seasonal nature of their work.

However, Randy Carmenaty of ARCLA believes that individuals interested in becoming certified in CPR/AED for 2 years should not be discouraged even if they are not in the healthcare field just as long as they consider a variety of methods including skills performance, retraining and skills refreshers to keep abreast of their initial training.

“I strongly believe that individuals and businesses alike should conduct a course refresher on a biannual basis at the workplace regardless of a 1 year or 2 year certification. This can be easily accomplished by meeting with fellow classmates and going over the material and skills”

Following both the scientific literature and OSHA recommendations, the Red Cross continues to strongly encourage all professional rescuers to retrain in CPR/AED annually and to refresh their skills at least every six months. The maintenance of skills and knowledge is achieved by a combination of course work including retraining, skills refreshers and application of these skills.