protraining
Our story starts in the classroom, but unlike most CPR training companies, it
doesn't end there. Our co-founder, Roy Shaw, was a classroom CPR instructor for
many years before our company was born in 2003. Roy knew what he was doing was
ambitious, so rather than do it on his own, he partnered with Paul Martin and
Scott Andersen to help in the early years. Our new team now included a paramedic
/ CPR instructor, a web developer / marketer, and a graphic designer / video
editor. You wouldn't be alone if CPR training makes you think of classrooms and
manikins rather than a computer. And in 2003, this was even more true than
today. But that didn't stop us from deciding to change everything. After all,
CPR training was broken and we were determined to fix it. No more falling asleep
in a 4-6 hour class. Why not learn from the comfort of your home. GROWING PAINS
AND EARLY WINS Of course, there have been challenges. Nearly a third of Internet
users were on dial-up in 2003 and YouTube hadn't been invented yet. But by 2007,
things were beginning to change. And that's the year we launched the Internet's
first fully video-based CPR course. At this point, we had certified around
80,000 students, our three founders went full-time on the business, and we hired
our first two employees to support our customers and gain compliance approvals.
Compliance challenges are what led us to create a blended CPR program in 2008.
Although online courses are acceptable for many people, there are certain
industries where hands-on skills practice is mandatory. First, we built a
national instructor network to meet this need. Then, in 2014, we introduced live
video conference evaluations and a low-cost SUMO manikin kit to offer our
students in-home skills evaluations, making ProTrainings the most compliant (and
convenient) CPR course available online. EXPANSION AND NEW VENTURES A lot has
changed since the early days. Our team has grown to 35+ people across our U.S.
and U.K. offices. We've certified well over a million people and counting. And
our free Student CPR program has certified tens of thousands of high school
students around the country. Our course catalog has also expanded beyond CPR to
include courses such as Bloodborne Pathogens, HIPAA, Hazcom, Fire Safety,
Ergonomics, Sexual Harassment, Pet First Aid, Continuing Education content, and
more to come. We're still just getting started!
