CPR and community training

Bystander CPR and early defibrillation change cardiac arrest outcomes, and a squad is the organization that can put both into a community. That makes community training an unusual auction item: it is not a proxy for the mission, it is the mission, delivered directly to the bidder.

What to offer

• A CPR and AED class for a business's staff
• A class for a school, a church, a club or a sports team
• Stop the Bleed training and a kit for a public building
• An AED for a business, school or community building, with training and a maintenance plan
• Infant and child CPR for new parents and grandparents, which sells to a completely different audience
• A family first aid session at home
• Sponsoring a free public class for people who could not otherwise pay

The infant and child class is the one to build. Expectant and new grandparents buy it without hesitation, it reaches households that have never thought about the squad, and it is genuinely the highest-value two hours in the catalogue.

Sell the AED as a package, not a device

An AED donated to a business without training, signage, registration and a maintenance plan is a device in a cupboard with expired pads. Sell it as:

• The unit, the cabinet and the signage
• Training for enough staff to cover the hours the building is occupied
• Registration with dispatch, so the AED shows on a 911 call at that address
• A pad and battery replacement schedule with a reminder
• A refresher after two years

The dispatch registration point is the one businesses have never heard of and it is what turns a purchased device into a piece of the response system.

It recruits as well as raises

A community class is a room full of people who have just spent two hours learning what the squad does, from the squad. It is the best recruiting environment available and almost no squad uses it as one.

Mention at the end that the squad is volunteer, that certification is funded, and what the first step is. Some of them will come.

Cost it honestly

Instructor time, manikins and their maintenance, consumables, cards and course fees, and the AED itself where included. Price the item against that rather than guessing, and note that instructor time is volunteer time you should not over-commit.

Cap the number

The same discipline applies as to any staff-delivered item. Agree with your instructors how many classes they will teach before the auction opens, and do not exceed it because the bidding was strong.

A squad that sells eight classes and delivers three has spent goodwill it needed for the next campaign — and its instructors are the same people running night calls.

General information, not legal advice for your squad. Whether you are a nonprofit corporation, a municipal department or a fire district service changes who receipts and who owns donated assets — check with your own adviser and your contracting municipality.