How camps should plan CPR certification for a summer season

Start in April. Not because certification takes long — a full staff can be certified in an afternoon — but because your hiring isn't finished in April, and you'll want a second date in June for late hires. Two dates is the plan that works.

Sort your staff into three buckets before you book anything. Waterfront staff need CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer, and in New York State that renews every single year. General counselors need Adult & Pediatric CPR/AED, or the full First Aid course if they'll be the ones handling scrapes and stings. Directors and anyone administering medication should have the full First Aid course plus EpiPen and naloxone add-ons.

Check expiration dates, not certificates. Plenty of returning counselors have a card that expires in the middle of July, which means they're uncertified for the back half of your season. Collect the actual expiration date from each person.

Book on-site. Getting twenty counselors to a training center on their own time is how a roster falls apart. We bring the manikins and AED trainers to your rec hall or gym, run groups of eight back to back, and everyone leaves with a digital card the same day.

Leave the paperwork somewhere findable. Keep a single spreadsheet of name, course, issue date, and expiration, and put a reminder in it for eleven months out. Inspections and insurance renewals go faster, and next spring you won't be reconstructing it from memory.