Obtaining a Professional Certification: Basic Life Support Certification (6 points) - Taylar Wharton

On June 20th, I received my Basic Life Support (BLS) certification. The BLS certification is crucial for working in a healthcare setting. It emphasizes CPR and First Aid techniques in a healthcare team setting.

To receive the certification, I had to do an online training course and an in-person demonstration of my technique. The online course was extremely informative and taught me how to react in a plethora of circumstances: adult and pediatric heart attack, choking, strokes, overdoses, and many other occasions. It was deeply empowering to learn these procedures and know I am able to help someone in case of emergency. The in-person portion of receiving this certification could have been improved by giving me experience with this plethora of circumstances instead of just the heart attack and choking. The knowledge from this experience directly connects to my CCMA certification, as a lot of the emergency procedures are the same. Overall, there is a common theme of being calm in the face of adversity and calling for help from others. More people working together have a better chance of saving someone than one alone.

Receiving this certification made me more excited to achieve my goal. It put me one step closer to becoming a doctor by giving me skills every doctor has in their arsenal. This certification also revealed to me that I would not enjoy being an EMT or an ER doctor. While I can do these skills, the stress of having to adapt to a wide variety of situations is not desirable for me. I hope to be an OBGYN because while there is stress, it is manageable because it will be with longstanding patients and in a smaller scope of practice. To maintain my BLS skills, I will do my best to engage in many review modules over time, so that I am equipped if the situation arises.

- Taylar Wharton