Can you save a life?

No, and it is important to be clear about that. This is awareness training. No simulation can teach you how hard to push, what a real chest feels like under your hands, or how to keep going when your arms burn. Those things need a manikin and an instructor. What this can do is show you where your instincts would cost time.

Every step follows the 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care, Part 7, Adult Basic Life Support. That includes compressions at 100 to 120 per minute, a depth of at least 2 inches without exceeding 2.4 inches, full chest recoil, activating EMS before beginning CPR when you are the only rescuer, and applying an AED as soon as one is available.

Because that is what happens. The widely cited AHA figure is that survival falls roughly 10% for every minute that passes without CPR or defibrillation. Our model halves that decline once effective compressions begin, which is the entire argument for bystander CPR. It is a teaching model rather than a clinical prediction, and real outcomes depend on much more than time alone.

Agonal gasps are slow, irregular, snoring or gasping breaths that are common in the first minutes of cardiac arrest. They look and sound like breathing but they are not moving meaningful air. The AHA specifically identifies them as a reason lay rescuers delay CPR, because the rescuer believes the person is still breathing. It is probably the single most consequential mistake a bystander can make.

Please do, as a conversation starter. It works well in a team meeting to show people why the training matters before you book it. It is not a substitute for the hands-on session, and it does not produce a certificate or anything you could put in a compliance file.

It is written seriously rather than graphically, with no gore and no gameplay that treats death lightly. Older children and teenagers generally handle it well, and it can spark exactly the right conversation. Use your judgement for younger children, particularly any child who has experienced a medical emergency in the family.

Yes. The compression section is tap-based on touch screens and space-bar based on a keyboard. If you have a choice, a laptop gives you a slightly better feel for the rhythm.

Yes. There is a practice mode on the start screen that removes the running clock, so you can read every option and think it through. You still see the consequences and the debrief at the end.

205 Van Buren St, Suite 120, Herndon, VA 20170. We are a short drive from Reston, Sterling, Chantilly and Fairfax, and easy to reach from the Dulles Toll Road. Visits are by appointment, so email first and we will have an instructor ready for you.

Either. Our instructors travel to workplaces, schools, places of worship and community groups throughout Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Arlington counties. If you would rather come to us, we host groups at the Herndon training center.

Yes, for training and for AED purchases, and for teams of any size. Send us your headcount or unit count and we will quote it properly rather than pointing you at a list price.

We are a local, 100% woman-owned small business with over 25 years in the field, and we do both training and equipment. That combination means the AED on your wall is one your team has actually practised on, and that you deal with the same people every time rather than a call centre.

Yes. VAHSI holds Virginia SWAM certification number 826884 as a small, women-owned business, so spend with us counts toward supplier diversity requirements for Virginia organizations that track them.

Most requests get a response the same business day. If you are working to a deadline, say so in your first message and we will prioritize it.