Saving American Hearts, Inc.

Welcome to Saving American Hearts ! We provide American Heart Association ACLS, PALS, BLS, NRP, IV Certification for LPNs approved by the State of Colorado Board of Nursing, Casting and Splinting workshop, FREE Heart Rhythm classes and we will be adding many more in mid March of 2019. Welcome to Saving American Hearts !My name is Catherine Brinkley. I am 50 years old and a single mother of three wonderful girls and a fat paralyzed, extremely spoiled wiener dog named Spaz. I have been a Registered Nurse for more than 30 years. I have worked as a hospital supervisor, director of nurses and charge nurse in almost every hospital department. I began my career in Othro/Neuro/Peds and moved on to Med/Surg, and then Telemetry, ICU/CCU and finally to CVICU and the ER. Every department demanded a completely different knowledge base than the previous and eventually, for the most part, blended into becoming a web of interlinked knowledge that I could use in any given situation and any hospital unit. The day that I decided to become a nurse was the day I brought by four pound daughter home from the hospital. My mother was a PEDS nurse at the time and worked in the hospital where my daughter was born. I had stayed in the hospital two weeks and had enough. I wanted to take my daughter home for the first time. Everything went fine through the morning, and that evening she choked on her formula. I remember how horrified I felt standing there screaming at the top of my lungs not knowing what to do and begging God not to take my baby girl as she lay there turning deeper colors and blue and finally black. Something snapped, I grabbed the phone and called 911 and screamed at the operator desperately trying to get somebody to help me. The ambulance came within a minute and saved her. It was that day, August 9th of 1990, that I decided I was going to be a nurse just like my mom. Never again did I want to feel that helpless ever again, standing there watching my child dying and helpless to do anything to try to save her. This was my daughter Amanda, now 26 years old, happy and healthy.I graduated from nursing school in 1993 with an Associates in Nursing and Applied Science.I remember the first ACLS class I took. Back in the day when nurses were allowed to smoke at the nurses desk, and take care of their patients who where smoking in their rooms. I'll never forget the horrifying words "Megacode" that every nurse shuttered at hearing. It wasn't the blood or trauma. It was this simple two syllable word, that struck utter fear in the hearts of every nurse. I was an agency nurse at the time, fairly new on the floor. I was given the ACLS book at told to report to class the next day. I did, and at the time, the classes were enormous. 173 students in the ACLS class. All but one, passed the Megacode and went on to become ACLS Certified. That single nurse that failed, was me. No one told me how to study, or to memorize the algorithms. I read the book front to back just as they told me to and I still failed. The entire hospital and every nurse, doctor, friend an employee in that hospital knew that I was the one that failed. It was common knowledge. They all but took my photo and announced it on the hospital bulletin board. I was angry and be honest I was pissed off and ashamed. It took me all of ten years to decide that I was going to get that certification and I was going to make sure that somehow, someway, things were going to change.In my last position I worked as the hospital supervisor in a small long term acute care hospital. There wasn't always a doctor in house and I actually got to run the codes as team leader. I had to become an expert. I went to great lengths memorizing, coming up with ways to remember things, researching on my own and making all of this ACLS horrifying Megacode as fun and simple as I possibly could. It was shorly after that when I obtained my instructor certifications. I started teaching classes a few nights a month and loved it. I opened my own business, all on my own and began teaching classes at Saving American Hearts in April of 2012. I created the website on my own. I do all my own marketing and have applied to become an American Heart Association as well as American Red Cross Training Center. I remember all the silly tips and tricks I used to memorize the algorithms and use those in my classes today. Learing ACLS boils down to memorizing a four algorithms and six drugs. The algorithms start simple and progressively get harder but I make them as simple as I can. If you can memorize my algorithms then you can master running any code. The four key things for the algorithms are: Do they have a pulse, is it too slow, too fast, or do you need to shock them. Not so much focus on the exact rhythm whether junctional, afib or whatever. Today, ACLS and PALS are a PIECE OF CAKE !Thank you for visiting my website and giving me the opportunity to tell you a little more about me, why and how I did this and I look forward to the pleasure of seeing you in my classes ! We are an authorized provider of American Heart Association Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Basic Life Support (BLS) and ECC & Pharmacology, IV Certificaiton for LPNs, PHTLS and lots more! http://www.savingamericanhearts.com Catherine Brinkley (719) 551-1222 admin@savingamericanhearts.com