Find the navel..

To go to nursing school I must be a certified Red Cross professional rescuer. That basically means I must be trained in the art of keeping someone alive until the real professionals arrive. Instinct told me to register and take the class now, and not wait for the fall rush.

So today was my day. I was nervous, besides the babysitters course I took when I was eleven I had no background in providing first aid. I arrived at the Red Cross early and waited in my car until right before 8am. They only offer this class once a month so I was surprised to walk into an empty classroom. Empty aside from the instructor. He was a geeky, awkward looking male with apparent social disabilities.

I must of looked surprised, he quickly explained that there were three others on their way. My classmates included a male with 20 years of EMT experience, a woman with 18 years of EMT experience, and a male radiology student.

The class was a mixture of lecture, videos, and dummy practice. I learned a lot including how to clear airways, preform CPR, and use a AED. We were each given a face mask with a mouth peice to practice on the dummys. Occasionally, John (the instructor) would have use one of us for demonstrations, and make us practice certain steps on each other.

I made myself comfortable among my peers, and after the first two hours we were comfortably chatting and poking fun. Of course all the jokes involving me had to do with my size. John was concerned my size would limit my ability to preform proper chest compressions. Haha, funny funny.

So when he called me to the front of the class I approached it with boldness. I had fun pretending I was choking, but the fun all came to a screeching halt when John started to go through the steps of the Heimlich.

"Put your foot between the person's legs, support the front with one hand and preform 5 blows to the back. Then find the navel..." Stop stop hold on is he really finding my navel right now, he most certainly was.. can we say awkward? Having someone put their finger in your belly button at 8 in the morning isn't the most pleasant experience. But I survived, the worst was over right?

Of course not, now it was time to practice on each other. My partner: the woman with 18 years of EMT experience. Did I mention she was at least 300 pounds?

John walked us through the steps, narrating each one. "Place your foot between the person's legs. Preform 5 back blows. " This was easily done but it must have been a sight. Picture this. By this point by foot is between this woman's legs, my supporting arm is barley reaching her middle, and a panicked thought came over me; I knew what was coming next. "Now find the navel."