HEART Mobile CPR seeks to educate others on the importance of CPR training while keeping loved ones safe.
Heart Mobile CPR was created in 2018. This business provides for communities throughout Ohio. Their main focus is educating as many people as possible on the importance of knowing CPR and other forms of first aid. The creation of this company started with two words: what if.
“I just think, what if my dad was out somewhere?” Shawna Bobst, creator of HEART Mobile CPR, said. “What if his friends were out somewhere, and no one knew how to do compressions? What to do if my dad is one of those that passed away? And I just thought ‘I really just want to get out there. I want to make a difference in people's lives. I want to have everyone be trained as much as possible.’”
As of now, the business has about 43 trainers under them. These trainers are not employees, but subcontractors. Subcontracting means that these trainers have their own businesses and they have the equipment to teach customers of their business CPR. HEART Mobile CPR makes an effort to connect with their subcontractors.
“She's very friendly, open minded, understanding, flexible and definitely willing to help,” Mercedez Chisholm, owner of Lvl Up CPR Training, said on Bobst. “She was definitely accommodating to my schedule and getting me to become a CPR instructor through her training site. As far as what she has done for me, she's definitely given me a lot of knowledge.”
Bobst has had big plans from the beginning of her business and the business continues to grow before her eyes. The locations are throughout Central Ohio and range from Cincinnati to Cleveland.
“On occasion I do send the trainers out to different places,” Bobst said. “And right now we're subcontracted with Walgreens, Walmart, Kroger's, CDs and Lowe's.”
Although this job proves to be educational and useful, it does not come without hardship and tough situations. Craig Harrington, one of HEART Mobile’s creators, has gone through experiences that have prompted him to create more programs of HEART Mobile CPR.
“There's always somebody in there that has a story of whether they've helped somebody or somebody has helped them,” Harrington said. “And I realized that this is so much more common than what a lot of people think, and it just really touched me.
I had this one woman, stay after class and cry to me because she lost her daughter. So, these stories really touched me and I thought ‘you know what, this is what I'm going to do’ –– and one day, I just got up and quit my other job that I had been at for 14 years.”
Many jobs require employees to know CPR and first aid, but usually the places CPR is performed is in public spaces and when it is least expected. HEART Mobile’s goal is to educate as many people as possible. In fact, before COVID-19, they were planning a trip to Africa to teach a whole village CPR and first aid.
HEART Mobile has much in store. There is a first aid class specifically for kids, a babysitter class, a water safety class, a wilderness class for camping and many other different classes.
Bobst, Chisholm and Harrington all feel that dire situations can happen in the blink of an eye and being prepared may be the best precaution to take.
“Our renters, the people who were running this building, said ‘Hey, well why don't we come over and do a first aid class with you guys,’” Harrington said. “A couple days later, one of the guys came over and personally thanked me, because right after that class, his neighbor had a heart attack, and he went over –– he was the only one that knew how to do CPR. He said he never knew how to do it before this class. I actually sent his name into the American Heart Association, and he received an American Heart Hero Award.”
