Fort Benning's Red Cross Program offers first aid and safety courses each month, designed to offer a variety of personal and professional training.
Michele Walton, Service to the Armed Forces coordinator, Georgia Region for the Red Cross, said the organization's CPR, first aid and water safety courses are tailored to ensure that any member of the community can gain preventive skills in case of an emergency.
"Our aquatic classes are always popular around the spring and summer," Walton said. "Many take (CPR) classes to fulfill a work requirement or for personal reasons like having a Family member who has heart problems and they want to assist if the need should arrive. They also (take classes) for community service and a number of other reasons."
Walton said CPR and first aid classes are offered every month at the Fort Benning Red Cross Station at 7200 Anderson Ave., Building 482, or at the West Central Chapter, located at 940 Rosemont Drive in downtown Columbus. Participants have options to receive combined classroom and online instruction to receive certification.
"The Red Cross has a new option called blended learning, where you complete a portion of the training online and come to a classroom setting with instruction for your skills portion of the course," Walton said. "Blended learning has become popular for many people because the shorter amount of time in the classroom. Part of your learning can be from the comforts of your own home."
For teens, the Babysitting Basics course offers six hours of hands-on practice and additional training in first aid. Participants, ages 11-15, are trained with dolls to learn skills such as how to properly feed and hold a baby, change diapers and more, Walton said.
"The baby sitters courses are very popular this time of the year, with many teenagers are looking for jobs over the summer," she said. "When you take the class, you are also going to become certified in infant and child CPR."
Advanced participants can also volunteer to become instructors for first aid and safety and babysitting courses, Walton said.
"It's important that we have volunteer instructors to help train individuals in the community," Walton said. "The Red Cross is a volunteer-driven organization and we depend on the work of volunteers to fulfill all of our lines of service."
To view a full schedule of upcoming classes or to become a volunteer instructor, visit www.redcross.org/ga/columbus. For more information, contact the Fort Benning Red Cross office at 706-545-5194.
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