How To Create A Health Club Environment Centered On Safety

April 22, 2008

How To Create A Health Club Environment Centered On Safety

A health club is generally where people go to get in shape and stay healthy. Most health clubs offer a variety of classes, equipment and health-focused amenities such as massage and steam baths. Members assume their health club is focused on safety because it is focused on their health. That is not always the case, however.

In order to build a solid clientele, a health club needs to have the right combination of classes, instructors, equipment and marketing. One component that simply cannot be overlooked is safety. Members need to feel as if their safety is a health club’s number one priority. Here are a few ways to make any health club focused on safety:

First Aid Training

Each and every employee of the health club should be properly trained in the administration of first aid and CPR. A health club is an environment where a large percentage of members are beginning a workout regime hoping to improve their health. This means that they are currently not in the best of shape and that can spell trouble!

While some emergency situations strike without warning, such as cardiac arrest, others are brought on by stress and exertion. It is imperative that all heath club employees know the warning signs of heart-related problems and how to handle life-and-death situations.

It is also important that employees can handle non-life threatening situations. Many health club members simply find themselves with sprained joints, pulled muscles or other injuries. Health club staff should be prepared to handle these medical situations as they arise.

CPR Training and AED Training

When a person suffers cardiac arrest, their brain can only live 4-6 minutes without the help of properly administered CPR. CPR acts to manually pump blood through the body until medical intervention can begin. It is extremely important for the safety of all health club members that employees receive CPR training on a regular basis.

CPR is great, but for the safety of their members, many health club managers are installing Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s.) An AED provides an electrical shock to the body of a cardiac arrest victim to essentially jump-start the heart. Combined with CPR, this system can actually raise a cardiac arrest victim’s survival rate above 40%.

First Aid & AED Equipment Checks

Having employees trained in first aid and CPR goes a long way towards the safety of a health club. Installing an AED in the club is truly making a commitment to the safety of members. However, if first aid materials and the AED are not kept in proper working order, they may not be there when needed most.

Have a particular employee take on the responsibility for keeping the first aid box well stocked. Another employee can be responsible for checking the AED to ensure it is operating properly and carries a good charge. If a medical emergency was to arise and these items were not available as promised, members would suffer greatly.

Equipment Safety Checks

First aid and AED’s are not the only sets of equipment that need to be kept in working order to ensure member safety. The exercise equipment itself needs to be checked on a regular basis to make sure all parts are running smoothly. Literally hundreds of different people may use a piece of equipment at a health club in any given week. This increases the opportunity for a small part to break or be compromised in some way. By checking each piece of equipment on a regular basis, health club managers can definitely say they put their member’s safety first!

Christine O’Kelly is an author for Annuvia, a company that provides businesses and other organizations with customized safety, emergency response, CPR training, and health/wellness solutions designed by healthcare and emergency response professionals.

Tags : Safety, first aid, first aid training, first aid CPR, American heart association, Red Cross