This review is based on my experience at the Los Gatos location. I am sharing it on each of Safety…read moreTraining Seminars' Yelp listings because these concerns are relevant to anyone considering the company.
I was extremely disappointed with this CPR/First Aid training. Safety concerns, as well as the quality and inconsistency of the instruction for the hands-on portion, made this a very frustrating experience.
First, there are significant safety issues with the setup. I have taken this course before and was alone at a location with a virtual instructor who was 1:1 with me while I demonstrated my skills. Imagine my surprise when, after I entered the small locked room, a man walked in behind me and the LOCKED door slammed shut behind him.
As if that wasn't concerning enough, the room is on the second floor of a quiet building. The hallway was dark, with no lights on. It feels isolated. You enter a code to access the room, and the room itself has no windows. I had NO advance notice that I would be placed in this small LOCKED, windowless room with another person.
That is a serious safety concern, and I was placed in an extremely uncomfortable position. What makes this particularly egregious is that Safety Seminars repeatedly leads with the fact that it is a women-owned business. I find it incredibly concerning that a company that so prominently emphasizes being women-owned would put a woman in this situation without any advance notice or consideration for her safety and comfort. What about women who have religious beliefs that don't allow them to be alone in a room with a man? More generally, why would participants not be informed ahead of time that they will be sharing a small locked, windowless room with another person?
I was on the second floor, in what already felt like an isolated setting because of the dark hallway, inside a locked room with no windows, and there was a man between me and the door.
The quality of the hands-on skills portion was also extremely disappointing. The way the instructors were provided to monitor the sessions did not allow for meaningful 1:1 observation, evaluation, or correction of skills.
My 14-year-old son was scheduled for his hands-on skills portion immediately after me. His skills portion was also extremely disappointing. For his session, one person was monitoring through a phone camera while simultaneously monitoring multiple people at multiple locations. During my session, the instructor appeared to be monitoring through what seemed to be a Ring camera in the room, also while monitoring multiple people at other locations.
In either case, this was not the 1:1 skills assessment I had experienced when taking this course previously. The instructor was not solely focused on observing one participant's performance, evaluating the skills being demonstrated, and providing individualized feedback or corrections.
The hands-on portion of a CPR course should involve an instructor closely watching you perform the skills, evaluating your technique, and correcting you when necessary. That was not my experience, nor was it my son's experience. Watching multiple people at multiple locations through cameras is simply not equivalent to 1:1 skills monitoring, evaluation, and correction.
The inconsistency in the actual training was also extremely concerning. We are required to complete the online modules before attending the hands-on portion. Despite already completing those modules, I was made to watch the same modules again during my in-person session. This took up valuable time during a session that was supposed to focus on hands-on skills.
My son's CPR certification took approximately one hour and covered all of the required material, including the additional opioid portion, which in contrast felt rushed. My session lasted approximately 1.5 hours and still FAILED TO INCLUDE CHOKING--A MAJOR COMPONENT of CPR/First Aid training. The experience clearly varies significantly depending on which instructor you receive.
Overall, I left feeling that the experience was more about completing a certification requirement than ensuring participants were actually prepared to respond in an emergency. Given the safety concerns, lack of meaningful 1:1 skills assessment, and inconsistencies in the instruction, I would not use Safety Seminars again and cannot recommend them.
I called Safety Seminars customer support immediately that day and spoke with a manager about my experience. I was told that someone would call me back. I have yet to hear from anyone. I suspect they may respond to this review, but given that my direct concern was never followed up on, I would view a public response as more "for show" than a genuine effort to address valid, objective concerns.
